Obsession Starts with a V
by thexlastxfantasy
Summary: The gang gets an uninvited tag-along. A dorky sixth grade girl, pigtails, glasses, and an obsession with everything vampire who has a feeling this motorcycle gang is hiding something. Oh, and she has a crush on David.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: In my story Max never got killed so he's still with Lucy. Lucy isn't a vampire, but Michael and Star are full ones living together with Max. Sam accepted his brother's a vamp and got the Frog brother's off his trail…they're still hunting the rest of them, though. Laddie is still a half vampire. One last note, I made Sam a little younger in the story and he's not a vampire.

Just a reminder: I don't own a thing except Veronica and her Mom.

* * *

**Let's pretend Twilight was out in the 80s. It is fanfiction after all.**

It's a warm sunny day in Santa Carla, perfect to go outside and play in the park with the other children. In fact, from little eleven year old Veronica's bedroom, you can hear the joyful shrieks and giggles from them. But, little Veronica has shut her blinds, turned off all lights-except her flashlight- and is now sitting in the corner of her pink bedroom reading her current favorite book, Twilight.

"Oh Edward, why can't you see Bella loves Jacob and not you? Besides, you would match up much better with me." She mumbled to herself. Suddenly, she slammed the book closed, pushed up her thick framed glasses, and looked towards her door. Her mother pushed it open and peeked in.

"Honey, it's Saturday afternoon and you're in here reading in the dark. I'm all for reading books, but you've read that one at least ten times."

"I know," came Veronica's quick reply. Her mother held her gaze for a few seconds before looking around her daughter's room. Pasted all over were posters of vampires from one of the very first Barnabas Collins pictures to Count Dracula himself. She even had cut out a few Halloween costume pictures and posted them to her collage. All her mother could do was shake her head and sigh. There was no arguing with a stubborn girl that was in love with anything that had fangs. As soon as her mother left, Veronica went back into her book.

Every night Veronica had the same schedule. When nine o' clock rolled around she got into her nightgown, took her pigtails out, brushed her teeth, said good night to her mom, and then went upstairs and said goodnight to her father's picture. She'd never got the chance to meet him; he had gotten into a motorcycle accident when her mother was only five months pregnant. You'd think that Veronica would be deathly afraid of motorcycles, but that comes nowhere near to the truth. Veronica has a deep passionate love for them; she loves them almost as much as she loves her vampires.

Finishing off her nighttime ritual, she crawled into bed and said the Lord's Prayer. At the end she always snuck in a little hint to the Big Guy himself.

"And Lord, if you'd like, you don't have to I'm just saying, can you- pretty pretty please- send me a vampire on a motorcycle for my birthday? Or even Christmas would work. Or Easter. Whatevers your best holiday. Amen!" Giving off a blessed sigh, she dove into her dreams of chrome, leather, and fangs.

The next day her mother barged into her room at nine a.m. "Veronica Sasha McCovern, get your butt outta bed, I just made you a play date!"

Veronica's eyes looked like dark slits as she scowled at her. "Go away."

"No way, I have a date today and I can't find a babysitter, so I called up Max and he said he'd be ecstatic to have you come over and play with Sam. You know Sam right? Max said he was in your class." Her mother's smile looked like it was going to split her head right in two.

"I don't know why you still go on dates, you always dump the poor guy because he's 'not like daddy'." This made her mother's smile twitch. "And yes I know Sam, I don't like him. He throws spit balls at me."

"Oh honey, it's probably just because he likes you. Boys are silly at that age; they do things like that to get your attention. Now hurry up!" She flung open the curtains and Veronica shrunk into her covers.

"I'm eleven years old, I can watch myself." Her muffled response seemed to pass by her mother as she began setting out clothes for her.

"You look so pretty in this shirt!"

"Mom."

"It goes so nicely with this skirt, too!"

"Mom!"

"Now where are your nice black dress shoes?"

"Mother!"

"Get dressed, there's a bowl of cereal waiting downstairs for you." Her mother spun out of the room just as quickly as she had come in. Veronica sat up and sighed. Her mother had pulled out her ugly pink flowered top and ankle length jean skirt. Dragging herself out of bed she opened her dresser and picked out a black and blue camouflage t-shirt and her black jeans. If her mother was going to force her to go on this "play-date" then there was no way she was going looking like a preschooler.

It was around noon by the time Veronica's mother got her out the door. When they showed up on Max's doorstep Veronica noticed a red motorcycle sitting in the driveway.

"Don't worry about that, that's just Michael's, but he's down in the basement sleeping with Star and Laddie right now. So you're stuck with me and Sam," a cheery man's voice came from the open doorway. Veronica looked up into the face of one of the dorkiest looking men she's seen in a long time.

"Hi Max, sorry for the sudden plans," her mom's' voice broke Veronica out of her trance.

"Oh it's not a problem. Sam always enjoys a little company."

"So does Veronica, right honey?" Her mother's voice tightened as she looked down at her daughter.

"Yeah," Veronica unenthusiastically said.

"You mentioned it would just be you and Sam, where's Lucy?" Her mom asked.

"She's out with her dad spending a little quality time."

"Oh that's so nice! I wish my dad were still around to do that with."

"Don't we all?" Max smiled at Veronica. She glanced at him, but said nothing.

"Well, would you like to come in for a drink or do you have to leave to get to your date?"

"Oh! Haha, silly me, I can be such an airhead at times. I completely forgot about Will." Her mother gave off a little embarrassed giggle.

"So his name's Will?" Veronica flatly questioned.

"Yes, and I'll be sure to mention you! Now I've got to be off sweetie. Be a good guest and don't make a fuss about anything."

"Sure thing Mom." Veronica flicked a fly off her shoulder and gave an icy stare as her mother backed out of the driveway.

"Sam's right in the kitchen…should I call you Veronica?"

"Yeah."

"Alrighty, just follow my lead then." Max smiled down at her before turning around and heading towards the kitchen.

"Awfully giddy today, aren't we?" She mumbled under her breath while closing the door behind her. Walking into the kitchen she got a whiff of baked bread and freshly cut grass from the open window. Sitting at the table was a dark blonde boy with a popped collar and an ice cold soda in his hand. He locked eyes with Veronica and dropped his glass bottle to the floor, creating a mess of sticky syrup and glass shards.

"Oh no, it's you!" He whined as Thorn came up and started lapping up the drink.

"Is there a problem?" Max asked as he shooed Thorn away and turned to the kids.

"No sir, not at all," Veronica's face flushed red at the scene and she looked down and her multi-colored Keds (which her mother bought to help make her popular-and in return she destroyed them with her new marker set).

"Oh well then in that case I'm going to have to ask you two to go into the living room and watch some TV while I clean Sam's mess up. Don't want anybody getting cut!" His smile returned.

"Ugh, how long is she staying with us?" Sam mumbled as he headed towards the couch.

"Be nice Samuel. I will tell your mother how you're behaving, and I'm almost positive you won't like the results."

Sam just rolled his eyes and flopped down on the blue and white plaid cushions. Veronica sat as far away from him as she could while still being on the same couch. A few moments of silence went by until a commercial came on.

"Until my Mom gets back from her date."

"What?" Sam turned his head away from the screen and looked at her.

"I'm here until my Mom gets back from her date." She softly said.

"Well that tells me a lot."

"Samuel!" Max's shout came from the kitchen.

"Sorry," Sam mumbled to Veronica. He went back to his TV program.

A hour and a half later of pure silence, Max came into the living room holding two plates with sandwiches and chips on them. "Anyone up for a late lunch?" Sam grunted an approval while Veronica timidly nodded.

"Well aren't we a bunch of Chatty Cathies." Max placed the plates down on the coffee table in front of them. "After you're done why don't you take Veronica and show her around the neighborhood? You just moved here not too long ago, right?"

Veronica looked up from her plate, "Um yeah, it's been about two years," she quietly said.

"Oh! Has it been that long already? It seems like only yesterday I met your Mom at the car wash. She's still the manager there, right?"

"I guess," she began picking at the bread. She slid her eyes over to watch Sam wolf down his sandwich. Max followed her gaze and twitched as the young boy chugged down his drink and packed the chips in his mouth like a hamster. He had cleaned his plate in a matter of minutes and was back to watching TV.

"You are so much like your brother when it comes to food," Max sighed.

"Which one?" Sam sneered. "None of them eat the same food I do."

Max's face muscles tightened and he quickly looked back to Veronica. "When you finish up here have Sam take you out. There's nothing much to do in this old place."

"Okay," she said before taking a small bite of her sandwich. Max disappeared upstairs and the silence between the two continued.

Veronica placed her empty plate down on the table the same time the next show of M*A*S*H started. The theme song filled the room as she glanced around, looking for the bathroom.

"Go down the hallway and it'll be the second door on your left." Sam said without taking his eyes off the screen.

"The bathroom?"

"No the boiler room," he looked over at her and saw the hurt look on her face. "Of course the bathroom. Why else would you be looking across the room with an uncomfortable expression?"

"Thanks," she sped off with her head down. When she was finished with her business she sat down on the toilet hoping to spend a few more moments away from that creep head without seeming suspicious. That's when she noticed there was no mirror anywhere in the room. Shrugging it off on the thought that maybe half bathrooms don't come with mirrors. She heard the TV click off.

"Did you fall in the toilet or did you climb through the window and ditch me?" Sam's voice filtered through the door. Veronica quickly came out and almost ran into him when she turned the corner.

"There's no window in there."

"There isn't?" He shrugged, "Well I haven't been here long enough to memorize the layout of the place." He started heading for the front door.

"We're going out?"

"That's what Max told me to do. He's already pissed I split soda all over his kitchen floor, I don't think I want to make him any angrier."

"That was Max angry?"

"Yup, he's not a very angry guy to begin with. David likes to push his buttons though. It's actually a little amusing; Max's face gets all red and there's this vein in his neck that pops out. I can see why David does it."

Veronica felt awkward having an actual conversation with one of her tormentors, but afraid of going back to that even more awkward silence she went with it. "Who's David?"

"His son." The silence was back and Veronica listened to their footsteps on the sidewalk.

"So…back at the house you said you haven't been there very long…" she tried to restart the conversation.

"Yeah, me, my mom, and brother just moved in with Max. My mom and him are getting married sometime this summer."

"Congratulations?" She looked over at him. He just snorted and kicked a rock that fell loose from someone's lawn décor.

"It's not the best thing that's happened to my family."

"You don't like Max?" Veronica became less timid as she began to see into the window of Sam's real life.

"He's an okay guy, it's just that…never mind."

"Okay." They walked down an ally that led to the Boardwalk.

"You've been here much?" Sam asked.

"The Boardwalk? I've only come here a few times with my mom. Usually only when she gets a bonus and wants to do a little shopping."

"Gotcha, just a little hint though, never come here at night."

"Why?"

"That when the most murders happen. We are the murder capital of the world. It's not like you're my favorite person in the world, but I don't want to see you dead either." Sam slapped his mouth shut. "Oops, I didn't mean to say that."

"No, it's fine. I kind of got the hint that you didn't like me when you threw a piece of chewed bubble gum in my hair."

"That wasn't my idea; Tommy thought it would be funny-"

"Yeah yeah, save the lies for someone who cares." Veronica's face turned red.

"Sorry it's just that you're so…"

"Weird? Well I guess you would be a little weird too if your Dad died on a motorcycle before you were born and your Mom couldn't find a stable boyfriend." This time it was her turn to slap her mouth shut. She never ever played the "my daddy died and my mother's a whore" card. Sam's eyes bugged out and his face turned a matching shade of red.

"Geez, I'm so sorry! I never knew that! Oh now don't I feel like a world class jerk?"

"No no, it's my fault; I should have never said anything."

"Yes you should have; you should have told us a long time ago! Oh geez," he rung his hands together as he tried to figure out a better way to apologize. "Look, we don't pick on people who already have trouble in their life; we just pick on the weirdos. Crap! Here, I'll buy you some tape so you can shut my mouth for me."

Veronica's lip quivered with a smile, "It's okay, I know I'm a weirdo. What other label can I expect when I sit at home reading comic books all day long and watching old horror movies?"

"Old horror movies and comic books? You sound like me!" He let out a little laugh and Veronica's smile broke free. "Hey, maybe you're not so bad after all."

"And maybe you're not such a jerk after all."

* * *

This is my new baby~ I'm honestly in love with this story (does that make me sound too vain?) Not sure who exactly to put this under, so for now it'll be under Sam. If you think it should be under David later, just tell me!

Please keep all flames to yourself because I'm really not in the mood.


	2. Chapter 2

It was almost eight o'clock when Sam and Veronica arrived back at Max's house. All day long they talked about their family life, their interests, and what they hated about school. It turned out that they had more in common than they thought. Veronica was able to sympathize when Sam told her about how he hated being pushed into Max's family. Not only was he an overhappy nerd with a bad taste in fashion, but David was also in a gang. And he was trying his damndest to get Michael involved. In turn, Veronica told him about how her mother used to go with Robert-a "family man" that had four other kids and wanted to be like the Brady Bunch. Then there was Chris, the tattooed gun runner for the Santa Carla Badasses who almost got them killed…twice.

"Haha, I guess we both suck when it comes to getting a normal family." Sam said as he jumped up on the front steps. He pushed open the door and Veronica followed him in.

When they got into the living room Max and Lucy were sitting on the couch drinking wine. Sam noticed that Max's glass was a tad bit redder than Lucy's.

"Maybe I should stay the night?" Lucy said as she stared down into her glass. "I just don't feel comfortable leaving him there alone."

"Do whatever makes you feel better. I can take care of the kids Honey." Max replied in a sugar coated voice.

"What about getting them to school?"

"Sam can walk Laddie to his bus stop, then head on over to his. If worse comes to worse I'll call Charley and ask if they can carpool with Tommy."

"Where are you going Mom?" Sam walked in with a worried expression.

"I'm going to stay with Grandpa for the night. That old hag-er, Widow Johnson- broke his heart again and now he's threatening to stuff himself and send his body to her through the mail!"

"Geez Mom, calm down. How is Grandpa going to be able to stuff himself anyway? It's a little hard to take out your insides while you're still breathing."

"Sam, please be sensitive right now. Can't you see your mother's in a panic?" Max's corner of his mouth turned down to form a slight frown.

"I know Grandpa, he's not one for suicide. I guess I can walk Laddie to the bus stop tomorrow, though." He sighed as Lucy ran up and kissed her son good-bye. When the door closed behind them Max turned to Veronica.

"Sweetie, your Mom called me about a half hour ago. She wanted me to ask you if it would be okay if you spent the night. Apparently she and Will are getting along pretty well."

"So well that they have to spend the night in a hotel room?" Veronica said. Max's eyes opened in surprise and Sam snorted, knowing all about her story.

"Um, well…" Max slid his hand through his hair.

"It's fine, can I go home and pick up some clothes for school?"

"Sure, Michael and Star are going out for the night; I'll have them run you over there. Sam can go with you, but I have to get going. Maria always chews me out for being late to the video store."

"I thought you were the boss?" Sam raised an eyebrow to Max.

"I am, but I keep her because she keeps me on a tight work schedule." He smiled as he walked past the two and out into the darkening night.

"Wait here and I'll go find my brother," Sam headed towards the kitchen and she heard a door open and shut. She looked around the room and noticed that it was poorly decorated. No family portraits, no children's artwork, heck there wasn't even an animal head mounted above the fireplace.

"Is this her?" A male voice snapped Veronica out of her exploration.

"No, this is just some random chick that decided to walk into our house." Sam's sarcastic reply gave him a smack upside the head by his big brother. A brown haired girl in a flowing skirt followed the boys upstairs.

"Hi," she smiled sweetly at Veronica. "Laddie's still downstairs sleeping. He shouldn't wake up until you get back." She directed towards Sam.

"Alright, let's go then. Sam go get Max's car keys, he left them for us." Michael ordered.

"You mean he trusts you with his car?" Sam's mouth fell open in faux horror.

"Just get the keys moron," Michael faked a swipe at his brother's head again.

"What a way to show brotherly love." Veronica jumped at Star's voice. She didn't hear her come up behind her. "My name's Star by the way. That's Michael."

"Hi, Max told me about you," Veronica smiled back.

"Oh really? I hope he only said good thing," Michael said. He suddenly lifted his arm and caught the keys that were flying towards his head.

"Good catch loser," Sam stuck out his tongue.

He put his arms around his brother's shoulders and pretended his knees had gone weak. "I only see one good catch around here, and I'm looking at her," he said in a sappy voice looking towards Star.

Star looked at Veronica, "I have to live with these two; you only have to spend one night with them."

"Oh don't listen to her, we're perfectly normal," Michael stood up, put an arm around Star's waist, and placed a light kiss on her lips. This triggered a light giggle from Star and they headed out the door.

"Do you need a garbage can? I'll let you borrow mine when I'm done puking my guts out."

Veronica laughed, "If they're like this all the time I suggest you keep the can handy."

"There's not a day that goes by that my head's not in one." They both laughed until Michael popped his head back in the house.

"Hurry up you two love birds, it's almost beddy-bye time and we still have to find Miss V's house."

"Miss V?" Veronica scrunched up her nose a little.

"Yeah, I've renamed you." Michael gave her a gleaming toothed smile and slipped back outside.

She turned back to Sam and saw he has a serious glare on his face. "Miss V?"

He broke out of his glare and looked at her, then shrugged. "I don't know where half the stuff he says comes from. I think he's on drugs."

It didn't take them long to get to Veronica's house, mainly because Michael did at least twenty miles over the speed limit. When she stepped out of the car she was tempted to kiss the ground.

"Not to be rude, but where the heck did you learn to drive like that?" Veronica asked as she unlocked her front door.

"David," Star grumbled. Michael just laughed it off.

"Do you want something to drink or anything?" Veronica asked when they got inside and turned on the lights.

"Nah, we'll just wait here." Michael replied, looking over the blue and white trimmed living room. "Whoever's the decorator did a nice job."

"That would be my Mom. She has a "thing" for fashion. Or so she says."

"She needs to get ahold of Max then." Star jabbed Michael in the ribs for his comment.

"She did, and obviously failed miserably." Everyone stopped and stared at Veronica. Her face flushed out of embarrassment. "Did I say something stupid?" She quietly asked.

"No, you said something shocking." Michael stared at her with huge eyes.

"You guys are taking it the wrong way," Star scolded. "She clearly meant that her mom just tried to improve his style. Right Veronica?"

"N-no…I'm pretty sure they took it the right way."

"Ho ho ho!" Sam's shocked face broke into a gleeful smile. "Are you telling us that Max and your mom hooked up? Holy cow crap! How did we never hear about this before?"

"Because it was only for a few days and it was when we first moved here. I only met Max once then a few days later she was onto another guy."

"So Max is a player?" Sam smirked.

"Sam, just because he was with another girl besides your mother doesn't make him a player." Star frowned.

Sam's face fell, "Oh? Then I guess he's just a man whore."

"Sam!"

"Calm down Star, no need to have a heart attack and die…oh wait," he laughed at a joke that went over Veronica's head.

"Watch it Sam," Michael glowered.

"You guys are a bunch of dead logs, excuse the pun," his laughter turned his brother and Star's glare into a worried one. Sam let out a snort that turned his face bright pink as he glanced toward Veronica.

"Oh did the little piggy embarrass himself?" Michael cooed, going back to his playful state.

"Shut it!" Sam yelled.

"These guys are weird," Veronica whispered to herself as she back away towards the stairs. Star and Michael quickly glanced at her and bit back a smile, almost like they heard her.

Up in her room she packed her school bag and her Twilight pajamas. Picking out a black shirt decorated with red bows and another pair of black pants she headed to the bathroom to get her personal grooming things, which consisted of a black toothbrush, black hairbrush with decorative silver stars, and her Care Bear toothpaste. So she liked the cotton candy flavor the furry little bears provided, who cares? Turning off all the upstairs lights she bounced down the stairs and noticed only Sam was still inside.

"Where's Star and Michael?"

"Out in the car swapping spit," Sam retorted. When he saw Veronica's face crinkle up in disgust he laughed. "I'm just kidding; they're out there waiting for us."

"Impatient much?"

"Hey, it's night time and we're preventing them from partying." This made Veronica giggle, even though Sam's face stayed serious.

"Well then, I guess we better get going."

The car ride back wasn't as terrifying since Veronica mentioned Michael's driving skills. As soon as Sam and Veronica were out of the car, Michael and Star were on the bike ready to head off into the night.

"Don't forget that Laddie's probably going to want dinner when he wakes up." Star said.

"Yeah, he's going to have to deal with macaroni though." Sam replied.

"As long as it keeps his belly full," she smiled and waved at Veronica as Michael sped off.

"So how is Laddie related to you guys?" Veronica asked when they went inside.

"He's sort of like an adopted son to Star and an adopted little brother to Dwayne and Paul."

"You can't just through names out to me and expect me to know who you're talking about." Veronica helped him get the macaroni started.

"They're part of David's gang."

"Ah, and they like kids?"

"They're not bad guys, they just fell in with the wrong...crowd."

"Sammie?" A tired voice came up from the basement steps.

"I'm up here bud, you get mac n' cheese for dinner." A brown haired little boy came sleepily up the steps. He yawned, then took a look at Veronica and decided food was more important. He sat at the table and waited for Sam to spoon out the grub into a purple plastic bowl.

"I'll show you where my bedroom is, you can sleep in my bed." Sam headed up the stairs.

"Oh, I'm fine on the floor. I don't want to be a pest."

Sam shrugged, "Do whatever you want." He opened a door to a blue room with a twin bed. It wasn't very big, but it wasn't a shoe box either. He opened a closet door and pulled out a navy blue sleeping bag.

"The bathroom's across the hall. I'm pretty sure _that_ one has a window."

Veronica smiled as she headed to it. When she was done she headed back to the bedroom and found Sam sprawled out on his bed.

"Oh good gosh no," Sam's face contorted in horror. "_Twilight?_"

"Shush, I love Twilight! Best vampire romance story yet." She looked down at her shirt.

"That's disgusting."

"Hey, I love vampires. You didn't make fun of me before when I mentioned my love of comic books."

Sam frowned, "You know, vampire aren't all they're cracked up to be. They're nasty little pests that are a pain in the ass to get rid of."

"And how do you know?" She squinted her eyes.

"Because I know everything," he closed his eyes and rolled under his covers. "Turn the lights off when you're done."

"You're just going to leave Laddie down there by himself?"

"When he's done eating he'll go back downstairs in the basement. There's nothing for him to do up here, all his toys are down there."

"Well, whatever," she sighed. Memorizing where her sleeping bag was she flipped off the lights, said her prayers, and slipped into the big fluffy bag. When she closed her eyes she heard the front door open. It sounded like Max was home and talking to Laddie.

She was just on the brink of sleep when she heard a door slam shut.

"Max!" A deep voice called out from downstairs. It wasn't a voice Veronica knew, so her curiosity bubbled up. Looking over at Sam she saw he had fallen asleep quickly. Making up a bathroom excuse just in case she got caught, she slipped out from the sleeping bag and headed towards the stairs. She turned the corner and froze. Right in front of her was a tall, menacing looking man with blonde hair and ice blue eyes.

"Who the hell is this?" He yelled down the stairs. Max came running up and shoved the man out of the way.

"Veronica, sweetie, what are you doing up?" He was out of breath and a look of panic flashed through his eyes.

"I...um," the made up lie left her mind as she continued staring at the new guy.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," he said as he pushed Max out of the way and headed down the hallway. "Where the hell is the bastard? Michael!" He began slamming doors open and scanning them with angry orange eyes. Veronica had to do a double-take. Orange?

"He's not here David, how many times do I have to tell you."

"Then where is he?" His nose flared and his teeth seemed to be getting longer.

"Probably hiding from you! Oh sweetheart, please go back to bed." Max looked lost and ruffled up. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"Hurt? You think I would hurt a child? What the hell is wrong with everyone!" David yelled as he kicked a door off its hinges. Veronica felt a hand on her shoulder and saw that Sam was trying to pull her back into the bedroom.

"Look I'm sure whatever Michael did he didn't mean to-"

"Oh no, you're right Max," David said with an eerie calmness. "He totally accidentally fell on top of Star when they were both naked and accidentally slipped his-"

"Alright alright! There's children in here. I need you to leave right now and go calm down. Besides, that all happened a long time ago."

David gave Max a stare that made his blood go cold. "I. Just. Found. Out." David said through clenched teeth. "Are you telling me you knew about this the whole time?"

Max regained his posture. "I'll go out and find Star and Michael and figure out what's going on."

David looked away as he went over something in his mind. When he turned back his eyes had gone back to an icy blue. "Fine, but if I find out that you hid them from me I swear to the fucking devil I'll eat your heart."

"The children David!"

"_Freaking_ devil. Find them!" He looked back over to Veronica. "Who is she anyway?"

"V-veronica," she stuttered out.

He gave a half-hearted snort, "That's a pretty name; sorry if I scared you." He walked past them and the tail of his black trench coat brushed her leg. She could smell a musky cologne and cigarette smoke from the breeze that followed him. A few seconds later, after Max had run out of breath from apologizing, she could hear a motorcycle engine roar to life. It was then, right then at that moment, that she knew God did exist. And she fell in love.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

lost boys luvr; Wolves in the Forest; FrogBrother'sLittleSister; Even. The. Stars. Refuse. To. Shine.

**Wolves in the Forest: **Aw thanks, now I feel the need to read one of your stories ;)

** Even. The. Stars. Refuse. To. Shine: **Thanks! If you think reading from a young pov is werid, try writing like that. I keep wondering if a 12 year old would say things like this or even know what they mean lol! Thanks for the compliments! Means a lot!


	3. Chapter 3

Max stormed into the twenty-four hour drug store where Star worked at night. "Guess who decided to stop by my house and scare the crap out of the children?"

Star looked up from stocking the shelves and a worried look crossed her face. "Please tell me it wasn't David."

"Bingo. Why the hell did you not tell him before now that you and Michael hooked up before you two broke up? Why the hell did you tell him in the first place!"

"I wasn't going to but I accidently ended up telling Marco," Star shifted uncomfortably on the ground. "It just kind of spilled out."

"And on what planet did you think that was a good idea?" Max demanded. "You now have David hunting you two down, and he's not going to stop until he's able to drink Michael's blood!"

"That's not fair! We split up a while ago; he has no right to start caring now." Her voice rose in pitch.

"You slept with Michael while you were still with David. Not only that but you slept with him in David and your's bed! Any sane young male would be furious at that," Max glared at Star. "Now how am I supposed to get you out of this mess?"

Star looked at the ground silently trying to figure out how to fix this. "Kill Marco. This is all his fault." Tears formed at the corner of her eyes.

Max's voice softened, "Star, I love you like a daughter, but you have to figure this out for yourself. I'm not the one who slept with Michael. You should have never told Marco and David would have never figured out. I suggest you get to David and talk this out with him before he finds Michael."

"You want me to be alone with David and "talk things out" with him? You know David doesn't talk. He's not rational."

"You'd be surprised. Get him just before he goes to bed, he's too tired to care much about anything. Never wake him up though, he's known for biting off fingers when you attempt the impossible." Max smiled a little and in return Star let out a wispy quite laugh.

"I figured that out the hard way. He shoved me half way across the cave when I woke him to say I was going out." This brought on a louder laugh from her. "I squeaked when I hit the wall and Dwayne slapped David without even opening his eyes."

"Let me guess, that caused David to hiss at him."

"Yup, just like a cat. Then, they just fell back to sleep like nothing happened! They never mentioned it again."

"That's because me and Marco never woke up. If we would have seen that we could have made so many jokes." A blonde haired man walked in and leaned against the shelf Star was stocking.

"Paul," Max nodded to him. "I'm guessing David sent you here to get Star. Why didn't he come himself?"

"Because he knew she wouldn't come. He wants you back at the cave. Now." He nodded towards Star.

"I can't just leave my job-"

"For David you can." Paul's non-serious look was nowhere to be found.

Star looked at Max before giving an answer. He shrugged in response, not helping her at all. "Well, let me go tell Alexis that I'm taking a break. She's just in the back room."

"Is she cute?" Paul's eyes were bright again and he stood up straight.

"I suppose for a sixty year old ex-trucker she is." Star smiled at Paul as he leaned back against the shelf with a disappointed sigh.

When Star returned back to the front, Max was gone and Paul was outside waiting on his bike. "Do I _really_ have to ride with you?" She taunted.

"David's request," Paul said as he started up his bike. Star hopped on and held on for dear life as he sped away towards the cave.

()()()()()

"So do we stay here and wait with him, or do we leave him and make a run for it?" Veronica asked Sam the next morning. They had just gotten Laddie to his bus stop when a light rain started to drizzle.

"Well I would suggest shoving him in a garbage can and letting him get hauled away to the dump, but I suppose we could wait with him."

"Hey!" Laddie tried to kick Sam in the knee, but he avoided it and gave a light chuckle as he ruffled Laddie's hair.

"You looked like your brother right then," Veronica quietly said. Sam looked at her and grunted. The air was silent as they watched Laddie jump from sidewalk square to sidewalk square. In about five minutes his bus showed up and they waved him off to school. Some of the kids sitting in the back of the bus made faces at them; the most popular one was the kissy face.

"What a bunch of jerks," Sam grumbled.

"Oh they're just kids," Veronica laughed. "Which way to our bus stop?"

"Just follow me and don't get lost!" Sam ran down the street one block and stopped at the nearest curb.

"That's it?" Veronica skidded to a halt next to him. Her heart was still beating normally from the mild run.

"Nope, and now we wait two hours for the bus." Sam watched her face crinkle up in confusion. "Ha-ha! I'm just kidding! We've got about five minutes to kill, and it already looks like we have company coming to join us!" He waved to a face Veronica knew all too well. Tommy. Sam saw the look of worry on her face. "Don't worry, I'll keep him preoccupied. Just keep an eye out for the bus," he smiled at her. Luckily for her, Sam upheld his promise and kept Tommy busy with the latest gossip in school: the new girl and certain "things" she would do if a boy would buy her lunch. Veronica looked up at the cloudy gray sky and thought about the events that occurred last night. If David really was a vampire that means Max might be one too. And what about David's gang? Were they also vampires? What would happen if Sam got turned into a vampire? She slid her eyes over to him. _I suppose he wouldn't be that bad of one, he just needs a motorcycle, _she thought to herself.

The bus came and took them to an average day of school. Veronica and Sam went back to acting like they didn't know each other, but he made sure his friends took it easy on her. When the last bell rang and Veronica headed out the double doors she saw her mother waiting for her in their old blue pickup truck. She was looking down picking at her nails, something that rarely happened unless...

"Mom?" Veronica got in the truck and tried to get her to look at her. "What happened last night?"

"Nothing sweetie. How was school? Did you end up with homework?" Her mother drove away keeping the left side of her face out of Veronica's view.

"He hit you again, didn't he?"

"What are you talking about dear?" Her mother gave a laugh that was on the border of a whimper.

"Kirby," she glared at her mother. Veronica angrily sighed when there was no reply. "There was no Will, was there? You went and saw Kirby again!"

Her mother pinched her face in pain, "He said he just wanted to see me again-"

"I don't care if he said he had a million dollars! I told you I don't like him and he hits you Mom! He _hits_ you like you're just some meat that he doesn't give two fiddle sticks about!"

"You watch your mouth!" She raised her voice at Veronica. "Kirby happens to be a very nice gentleman; I just say the wrong things sometimes. Remember that pretty green bike he got you for your birthday?"

"I hate the color green and he didn't get that for my birthday Mom, he got that as an apology for hitting me when I tried to break up a fight you two got in," Veronica snarled. "And must I remind you about the time he snuck into my room full of vodka and wine and tried to touch me?"

"Shut up!" She screamed, "Veronica you made that up and we both know it. Kirby would never do something like that."

"Yeah Mom, Mr. Perfect isn't a pedophile. You keep believing that." Veronica bitterly said. They drove on in silence until they pulled into their driveway. Veronica got out and slammed the door shut as she stared heading towards the sidewalk.

"Where are you going?" Her mother demanded.

"It's none of your business!"

"You are my daughter and you're going to tell me where you're going." She chased Veronica down the street.

"I'm going to find David and hire him to kill Kirby!" Veronica shouted, rapidly blinking tears away.

"Who the hell is David?"

"You'll find out when he walks in to save me!" She took off running in the direction of Sam's house.

When she reached the house she found Sam in the backyard in his tree house reading a new edition of ThunderCats. She hauled herself up the ladder and he barely glanced at her when she plopped herself next to him.

"How much would it cost to hire someone to kill a pedophile?" She asked when he turned the page. This made him close his comic and squint his eyes at her.

"That was a creative greeting."

"I'm being serious," Veronica looked at a stack of comics between them. "I was thinking...maybe David would do it. He seemed like he needed to get some anger out and killing a pervert would do the trick."

"Uh, did something happen on the way home from school?" A look of concern crossed his face. "Some old weirdo didn't come up to you, did he?"

"Kind of, but it wasn't just _some_ old weirdo and it was a few years ago."

Sam dropped his comic and opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't think of anything to say. He snapped it shut and waited for her to continue.

"Last night my mom said she was going on a date with Will, but there is no Will. She met with Kirby. He's one of her ex's that used to beat her. The only reason I found out she was lying was because she had a nice shiner on her left eye. No one else used to do that to her, not even Chris- you know, the gun runner.

"Well one night her, Kirby, and a few of his friend were having a few drinks down in the basement and my mom ended up getting wasted and passing out. His friends dared him to go upstairs and get me to have a drink with them. I refused and he got mad so he locked my bedroom door and...well...he attempted to touch me. But I lock myself in my closet until he gave up. I ended up staying in their all night until my mom came and to get me because I was late for school. I have to say, wasn't the best night of my life. When I tried to tell my mom this she didn't believe me and sent me to school late like nothing ever happened. A few weeks later they broke up because he couldn't stand my mom and her "whininess" or something like that. I thought we were rid of him for good because he moved to Texas, but the next thing I know he's back and apparently dating my mom again!"

Sam was silent for a while as he tried to digest this new information. "I'll kill him."

Veronica snorted, "Thanks but I'd much rather have a va-uh adult do it. Has David ever killed anyone before? If he hasn't I don't want to put his soul in danger of going to hell, but if he has then he's already destined to go there so..." She shrugged.

"David? A soul? Ha! A tree has more of a soul than David. Plus he has no morals. But still, I wouldn't do business with him. You ever hear of stories where Genies grant wishes, but the wishes end up turning into crap because the person who made the wish wasn't very exact on his wish making, so the Genie went and twisted it all around? Well David would be the Genie and you would be the wish maker."

"Oh," Veronica's hope popped like a balloon, and you could hear it in her voice.

"But if you tell Max, I'm sure he could find a way to rid you of your troubles."

"Oh no! I couldn't tell Max; do you know how embarrassing that would be? I could barely tell you, and I left out all the details!"

"Then how were you supposed to tell David?" Sam asked.

Veronica went silent. There was no way she would be able to tell the man of her dreams _that_ story. "I guess I didn't think it through all the way. In my fantasy world he already knew and just busted open the door and saved me. And I was older with really nice hair."

"Well geez, why'd you make David the hero of your story? Do I not exist or something?" He laughed at his joke then blushed when he re-thought what he said. "Wait...that's not what I meant." Veronica grew a sly evil smile. "No really! It just came out wrong! You're taking it the wrong way!"

"Then why is your face as red as a tomato?" She taunted.

"Because you took it the wrong way you pervert!"

Veronica's face fell. "What am I going to do if the real pervert starts living with us again?"

"If you want, come and stay with us." Sam shrugged. "It seems like we already have half the population of Santa Carla living with us when David and his gang stay, so why not add another?"

"David stays with you?"

"Sometimes, whenever they get trapped there. I mean, like when their uh, apartments...yeah! When they get lock out of their apartments they have to stay with us. They all live in the same building."

Veronica crinkled her nose in confusion, "Why do they get locked out?"

"Because the owner hates them and their bikes. So he just goes to the front door, clicks it locked, and walks away with a smile on his face. No more dealing with them assholes for the rest of the day!"

"Can he legally do that?"

"Probably not, but the guys are too stupid to realize it," he smiled a toothy grin. "Now how about you and me go raid the kitchen? My mom will probably scold us, but hey, we're just kids!"

"Scold?"

"She never yells. Ever. Not even when Michael started getting...weird on us." Veronica crinkled her nose again. "You know, actually thought about joining David's gang."

"Oh, was she the one worrying about her Dad?"

"Yup, she worries a lot, too."

"She reminds me of a mouse."

"You're not the first to say that," Sam laughed. "Hey, maybe if you're extra sweet to her you can get her to make us some Kool-Aid! Ask for the red kind, it's my favorite."

"It must be because it matches the color of your face every time you look at me." Veronica giggled evilly.

"Not this again," Sam groaned. They climbed down and ran towards the house, Sam attempting to trip Veronica, which just landed him a face plant in the dirt. She laughed hysterically as she stepped into the house and acted as a proper young lady should in order to win them some Kool-Aid.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

FrogBrother'sLittleSister; Stargazing Strangers; ArcadeFire; lost boys luvr; Wolves in the Forest; and my mysterious Guest

**Wolves in the Forest: **Hehee! It's always good to make your readers feel loved.

**Stargazing Strangers: **The way you described David was just...perfect. For some reason it made my day.


	4. Chapter 4

Veronica ended up staying until the sun went down, going back and forth from reading comics in the tree house and learning how to play poker in the kitchen. They played with gummy bears until Laddie came upstairs and stole their stash.

"Veronica sweetie, when does your Mom want you home?" Lucy asked when Veronica helped her put away the dinner dishes.

"Oh whenever..." She jumped down from the counter and headed over to the living room where Michael and Sam sat watching TV. Ever since Michael woke up he had been pacing around the room waiting for Star to come home. It wasn't until Sam turned on the TV that he finally sat down.

"It's just not like her," he mumbled under his breath as he kept looking at his watch.

"Did she tell you where she was going?" Veronica asked, sitting down in between the two brothers.

"No, she didn't even show up this morning. She's been gone all day."

"Did you call her work?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, they said she left work early and never came back. She hasn't come in tonight either." He let out a rush of air and glanced at the TV. "If she doesn't show up in a half hour I'm heading out to go find her."

They sat in silence for about ten minutes when they heard a rumbling in the distance. Michael closed his eyes and let a curse slip through his lips. When the bikes pulled up and came to a halt, the door opened to reveal four heavily haired men with Star.

"Where's the little Lad?" A dark haired one asked walking in with a smile on his face.

"Dwayne!" Laddie's small footsteps thudded up the basement stairs. Dwayne met him halfway there and Laddie's mouth started moving a mile a second as he began to tell him all about his day at school and what he made in his art class. Dwayne just nodded and smiled not understanding a word of what this overly-excited boy was saying.

A guy with long blonde hair walked in and stood with Dwayne, helping him translate what Laddie was saying.

One with curly hair walked in with Star and stayed in the corner of the room as she ran up to Michael and hugged him.

"They didn't do anything to you, did they?" Michael asked when he stood and hugged her back tightly. She hid her face in his neck and just shook her head.

Lastly, David strode in like he owned the place. When Veronica looked at him she couldn't help but smile. She tried to hide it by biting her lip, but it didn't seem to work. David locked eyes with her and gave her a small mocking smile. She turned away and blushed at the TV.

"Where the hell have you been?" Michael finally demanded when they broke the hug.

"She was with me Michael," David spoke when he leaned up against the wall near the curly hair one. "I kept her safe; in fact, she seemed to be enjoying herself an awful lot." He gave her a smile that didn't match his icy cold glare.

"Michael," Star mumbled. "I just got stuck out at the cave with them, that's all."

"Why were you out there with them?" Michael countered.

"David wanted to talk to me."

"Oh yes, we did a lot of talking, didn't we Marco?" David looked towards the curly haired one, who bit his thumb nail to hide a small smile and nodded in reply.

"About what?" This time Michael was looking at David.

"Things, like life and _love_," David hissed the last word.

"Uh, not to interrupt some brotherly bonding, but Veronica needs to get home." Sam stood up from the couch. "Michael, can you take her home? Mom's busy, I think she's on the phone with Grandpa, and Max is at work."

"Yeah sure, how's grandpa?"

"He's done threatening to stuff himself, but now he's thinking of stealing the Widows cat and sending it back to her...you know. Stuffed and free of charge," Sam's lip quivered and Michael's eyes held a smile.

"Your grandpa was dating the Widow?" The blonde one's mouth fell open. "That old hag has to be ancient! I can't believe she's still kicking, let alone in the dating circle!"

"Now now Paul, you can't judge a book by its cover," David lightly scolded with a half-smile.

"I'm sorry; it's just that...can you imagine her in bed?"

"I try to stay away from horrific images," Dwayne mumbled.

"I mean, come on! She has to be all dried up by now!" Paul continued. David covered his face and tried to hold in a laugh.

"I don't think an ex-prostitute ever dries up," Marco susurrated from his corner.

"Guys! There are kids in the room!" Star's face held a disgusted look. "And she never worked the Red Light District." She whispered.

"I know what that means," Sam glared at her. He looked over to Veronica who was busy awkwardly looking back and forth from the guys. "So Michael, are you taking her home or not?"

"Aw sorry little guy," David uncovered his face, "we didn't mean to break up your date so early."

"Man, we are such cock blockers!" Paul laughed.

"Michael just take her home," Star pleaded. "There's no way we can censor them when they get like this."

"She's not my date!" Sam said through gritted teeth.

"Well then, you won't mind if I steal her and take her home on my bike," David gave another half-smile.

"Actually I would, because I asked Michael to. I don't trust that you'll get her home safely."

"Oh? But I'm your big brother, why would I hurt a girl you're crushing on?" David taunted.

"Stop it," Star mumbled as she leaned against Michael's shoulder.

"You're not my _big brother_ yet, and even when Mom and Max get married you'll only be my dirt bag step-brother!"

"Ow, feisty little fellow there, eh?" Paul laughed an air-heads laugh. "Come on Laddie, show me your art project downstairs. It looks like things are getting a little heated up here." Dwayne and Paul followed the still excited boy back to the basement.

"How about this you little brat," David's smile disappeared. "You let Veronica decide, since you know, she is a human with the capabilities of making up her own mind."

"Fine," he turned to Veronica. The room went silent and all eyes were on her, including those silver blue eyes of the man who made her knees tremble. Well, at least she thought they were trembling from him, but embarrassment could do that job, too.

"Maybe I should just walk home," she barely got out in a whisper. She looked to the floor and admired her handiwork on her Keds.

"David, why are you being cruel to her? She's just a little girl," Star interrupted.

"I'm not being cruel; I'm just letting her decide. Kind of like a proper gentleman would do." He said with slight sarcasm in his voice.

"More like a proper jerk," Sam uttered under his breath.

"Listen, I'll just take her home and then we can finish our little _chat_ when I get back," Michael headed towards the door.

"Uh, why don't you drive her home in the car?" Sam suggested.

"That's what I was going to do." Michael looked at his brother quizzically. Veronica got a small deflated look in her eyes, which David picked up on right away.

"Well now you've just made it a lot easier, would you rather ride in a car or have me take you home on my bike?" David stared at her.

Veronica made the mistake of looking at him. They locked eyes and she couldn't look away even though she knew her face must be bright red.

"I think that settles it," David gave a smile, but his eyes gave a sort of dead look. He headed out the door and started his motorcycle.

"Wait...what just happened?" Sam looked back and forth from Veronica to Michael.

"David won, that's what happened." Michael said scornfully.

"Michael, not everything's a game with him. He may try to make it but you-"

"Enough Star, I'm going to follow him to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Come on Miss V."

Veronica felt relief that Michael didn't seem mad with her, but when she looked back to Sam on her way out she saw a look of hurt on his face. She waved good bye with a small smile and walked over to David. When she looked back for Michael, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Your chariot awaits madam," David watched her from his rearview mirror. She stood next to the rumbling machine and shifted her weight from foot to foot. He lifted an eyebrow to her.

"I've never really been on a motorcycle before," she eventually whispered when she looked down to the ground.

"Just hop on and hang onto me. I promise I won't go too fast." His eyes darted up to the roof of the house, but looked back to Veronica just as quickly.

"Well actually I lied; I've been on a motorcycle before, it was just when I was still in my mom and she went on my Dad's. But I suppose that doesn't really count."

David laughed, "So you were born a motorcycle baby? How come you don't ride with your Dad?"

"'Cause he's dead." David's smile vanished. "He died on his motorcycle."

After a few seconds of silence David turned his head and looked at her. "You know what happens when people die?"

"They go to heaven?"

"Close, they turn into angels. And since your Dad died on his motorcycle, he's out there watching over all the bikers."

"So he'll keep me safe?"

"Yeah," this time a kinder smile appeared on his face; one that Veronica hadn't seen before. She got up her courage and let him help her on the bike. She felt awkward about it, but she put her arms around him. As soon as he took off she was glade she did; she worried that if she hadn't she would've be splattered back on the driveway. As he took off down the street she swore she saw something jump down from the roof of the house and land onto Michael's bike.

Just like he promised, David delivered Veronica safely to her house. She waited until he was gone to open the door and face her mother. She found her at the kitchen table picking apart a ham and cheese sandwich.

"So you were at Max's place?" She eventually said, tossing aside the plate.

"You called Max?" Veronica softly responded.

"I was worried sick about you, but luckily you don't have many friends, so where else would you have gone?"

For some reason those words hurt Veronica, even though they were the truth. She shrugged and took a step out of the kitchen.

"Hold on, I'm not done with you." Veronica walked back in and when her mother pointed to a kitchen chair across from her, she sat. "Don't think I'm going to let you get away with this young lady. For the next week…no, _two_ weeks, you are to do the dishes every day, cut the lawn, and clean both bathrooms. Plus you'll be washing my car and I better not see a speck of dust in your bedroom for the next whole month. I'll be looking in everyday to make sure. And you're not allowed to go anywhere without my permission, even if you're over at Max's and you and Sam want to go for ice cream or something; you must call me first."

"What if you're not home?"

"Then I guess you won't be getting ice cream." Silence filled the room. Veronica kept her head down expecting more chores to come her way, but when her mother stood up from the table and threw away her uneaten dinner she knew her punishment was over and was free to go to her bedroom.

* * *

******Don't really like how OOC David got at the end, but the movie never showed how he deals with children's miserable beginnings :/**

**Thanks for reviewing:**

lost boys luvr; Wolves in the Forest; Byrneshadow; GordiesGirl7


	5. Chapter 5

**So sorry for the delayed update. I was working on a one-shot that I couldn't give up. It's called Girls, Girls, Girls if you want to see what was taking up my time.**

* * *

It had been almost a week since she received her punishment and every night she kept having the same dream over and over again, but every morning she could only remember three things about it. She could hear the rumbling of four motorcycles, she felt a breeze slip and slide through each strand of her hair, and every once in a while blue eyes would look back at her. But, when she woke up to her alarm this morning, something was different. It wasn't blue eyes that looked back at her, but orange ones.

She sat up in her bed and looked at the clock that read 6:30 am. Inside she silently rejoiced, because today was the last day to get up early for the next three months; today was the last day of sixth grade! Soon she would be one step closer to the top of her school's food chain; one more year and she would be a head honcho, the cat's meow, the cream of the crop, the top tomato, she would be an eighth grader at last!

"Veronica, your breakfast is getting cold!" Her mom yelled up to her to break her out of her fantasy. Most likely nothing would change for little Veronica once she became an eighth grader; and besides, she still had all of seventh grade to get through first.

"Coming Mom!" She yelled back as she pulled on today's outfit which consisted of her jean overalls, purple tank with black stars, and her black converse shoes. Putting her hair in her normal pigtails she picked out her rubber bands with purple and black star designs. Thinking of stars, she wondered how Star was doing, and Sam and Michael. But mostly she wondered how David was doing. After that marvelous bike ride home, she never saw him again and the few times she talked to Sam at school she was too embarrassed to make a mention of him.

"Veronica, get down here NOW!" Her mom shouted again. Veronica rolled her eyes and flew down the stairs. Looking at the time she noticed she only had ten minutes left to scarf down her breakfast, get her school supplies together, and walk to the bus stop. She looked at the kitchen table and saw her mom had made her her usual Last-Day-of-School-Bananza Pancakes. One chocolate chip pancake decorated with banana eyes and mouth, a strawberry nose, and bacon for hair.

"Hey Mom, do you think I could eat this on the way to the bus stop?" She cocked her head, placed her left arm on her hip, and looked at it quizzically. Her mom came into the kitchen, stood next to her daughter, and struck the same pose.

"I guess if you put it on a paper plate and take a plastic fork. Or I could wrap it up for you like a burrito. Maybe that'll start a new tradition?"

"Oooh, I like the Bananza Burrito tradition! Just don't include the bacon into it."

"Why not? I've heard rumors that some people eat chocolate covered bacon."

"That's just gross!" Veronica cried as she crinkled her nose in disgust.

"Alright, get your things packed," her mom smiled as she lightly pushed her towards the living room coffee table.

Veronica was still munching on her Bananza Burrito when she arrived at the bus stop. Sam and his friend Tommy were already there talking about how their math teacher was a "total barf bag". Tommy looked over and eyed Veronica with an evil smile.

"Aw, did Mommy pack your breakfast to go?" He said in a mocking baby voice.

"Leave her alone scumbag," Sam jokingly punched him in the arm.

"Oooh la la, what's this? You're sticking up for the weird girl? Could this be…is this…oh my Judas Priest you're in love!" Tommy screeched. He fell to the ground, clutched his heart, and keeled over letting his legs stand straight up in the air.

"And he calls me a weirdo?" Veronica mumbled loud enough just so Sam could hear. This brought a smile to his lips.

"You look like an overdramatic cow. Would you get up? The bus is here," Sam said to Tommy. Tommy reached out a hand and Sam helped him up.

()()()()()

There was a half hour before sunrise, just enough time for Star to get dressed and head home. David was asleep on the bed, his back facing her. The others were still out so she had to hurry.

"Mother of pearl!" She whispered as she stubbed her toe against a cluttered side table. David stirred in his sleep, but didn't wake up. She quickly threw on her shirt and shorts and headed out of the cave's opening. She flew home and snuck in through the back door that lead into the kitchen. She let out a little yelp of surprise when Michael flipped on the lights and leaned against the wall.

"Where have you been? Work called asking if you were feeling okay. Apparently you haven't been in for the past two days."

Star stood there with her mouth hung open trying to come up with a reasonable excuse. "I've been out."

"Doing what?" He raised an eyebrow.

"It's kind of a secret."

"And you don't trust me with your secrets anymore?''

"No I do! It's just that if word gets out I might lose my job."

"Oh? Care to explain yourself?" He tilted his head to the side with an unsure look upon his face.

"I've been out job hunting. I like my job now, it's just that I'm hoping to find one with a little better pay. And it's not like I can just go out and hunt during the day."

"Oh," his anger subsided and he stood up straight. "Why didn't you just call in sick for work?"

"I don't know, I guess I just didn't think about that. I'm going to go jump in the shower; care to join me?"

"Is that a hint that I'm beginning to stink?" He teased.

"Well I wasn't going to say anything directly…" she teased back.

()()()()()

"Can I Mom? Can I? Pleeeease?" Veronica begged. It was finally the first weekend of summer and she was getting antsy to spend the night over at Sam's house. Maybe, just maybe, David would make a second appearance.

"You still have another week of punishment to go, and I was including the week ends."

"I'll cut the lawn and put the dishes away before I head over there, then when I get back tomorrow I'll do whatever else needs to be done."

"Cut the lawn, do the dishes, _and_ wash my car, then it'll be a deal."

"Deal!" Veronica squealed. She hurriedly ran to the garage and pulled out the lawn mower. She almost started sprinting when a thought struck her. If David really was a vampire, then she wouldn't see him until night had fallen. She ended up taking her time on the lawn so as not to cut off a limb, and got the bucket and hose out for the pick-up. She was just beginning to suds up the truck, when a beat-up looking black Pontiac Firebird rolled into the drive way.

"Ah Veronica! Long time no see, huh? Since you're doing your Mom's car, why not tug the hose over here and do mine?" A shorter than average man with brown curly hair flashed her a bright white smile.

"Hi Kirby, I thought I heard you were back." She gave him a flat look and continued with the wash. The only things that changed about him was that his beer belly had gone down a little, but some dandruff appeared in his hair. Or maybe that was just streaks of grey that were beginning to grow.

"Hi Honey!" Her mom stuck her head out the door. "I see you've re-met Veronica. Speaking of which, you won't mind washing Kirby's car too, would you?"

Veronica bit back a 'yes' and just smiled at her mom. "Not a problem." Now she was desperately wishing she had run with the lawn mower; she probably would've been at Sam's by now.

When the cars were finished Veronica came in through the back door and quickly slipped upstairs to avoid running into Kirby or her mother. She packed her things and put them by the back door; then washed and dried the dishes while she listened to the mundane chat of her mom and Kirby.

"I'm going now!" She shouted to her mom when she finished and draped her bag over her shoulder. She was at the back door like a horse ready to start a race; the gun shot being her mom's 'okay'.

"Did you put away _all_ the dishes?"

"Yes mom."

"And you cut both the front and back yard?"

"Yeah."

"And you washed both cars, correct?"

Veronica snorted, "Yup."

"Alright, be safe and don't harass Max or Lucy too much."

"I won't!" Veronica shouted as she ran to the sidewalk. When she passed by Kirby's car she let out a little chuckle. She washed his car alright; in fact, she even washed the inside. He should have known better than to leave his windows open.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

GordiesGirl7; Byrneshadow; Margaret Ellie Jeffrey; MiLadyofNight; Pandora4977; Shadow. In. The. Dusk


	6. Chapter 6

**Just a little note, I don't own Faster Pussycat. They're a real band that has some pretty good music, in my opinion (if you like 80s rock).**

* * *

"How'd you get that sunburn?" Sam asked when Veronica arrived at his house. They headed to the tree house to inspect some old comics that got dumped on him by some friends.

"Washing cars, it was part of my punishment."

"Oh, does it hurt yet? Can I make a hand print on it?"

"Just feels a little hot, by tonight it'll start burning; and no. So where did you get these comics? These things look ancient! I've never even heard of these titles before. _Land of the Lovesick, Music Filled Hearts of Blood, Dangerous Lovers in Wonderland_?"

"Yeah, they never got real popular. My friends found them in the back of their store's storage room and thought it be funny to crowd my tree house with them. They're not interested in corny romance comics that are in black and white."

"Who are these terrible friends that would curse you with such crap?" Veronica wrinkled her nose as she held one called _Lovers Lost in the Tropics _far away from her.

"The Frog Brothers," Sam muttered. "They could have just given these to their parents to use as papers for their weed. At least that's what I'm assuming they smoke…"

"I take it they own a comic shop?"

"Yup, down on the Boardwalk. Not too far away from where Max's video store is."

Suddenly Veronica got an idea: if Vampires liked to party all night long, where was the best place to do that? The Boardwalk of course! "Maybe we should go down there and give the curse back. You know, stuff these comics in their bicycle spokes and their backpacks. They'll love cleaning that up in the morning, or accidently pulling out _Sexy Lover's Naked Triumph_ instead of a book report that's due. Then tonight we can go on a nighttime ride on the Farris wheel! I've never been on one at night before!"

"I like the ambush idea, but the Ferris wheel I'm going to have to pass on."

Veronica looked bummed, "How come? You're not afraid of heights are you?" She teased.

"No no, it's not that. Remember when I told you the most murders happen at night? Well I just don't want to be one of those murders."

"I really want to see the Boardwalk at night though, and the Ferris wheel would be the best way to see all of it." Veronica made her best dejected face. "But if you don't want to, maybe your brother could take me with Star and Laddie." She gave off a depressed sigh, then suddenly a glint of hopefulness. "Or maybe David could take me!"

"No! No, I'll take you; just stop getting all depressed on me."

"Yay!" She leaned over to him and gave him a hug. She now knew how pathetic to act to get him to do anything.

()()()()()

Later that night, they made their attack on the Frog Brothers. The two were too busy checking for thieves in the front to notice anything shifty going on in the back. Veronica and Sam muffled their giggles as they pushed the cheesy comics through the spokes of the brothers' bikes to clog the tires. Once inside the store they silently hunted out their backpacks and replaced all homework with the most risqué comics.

"They are going to kill me," Sam giggled when they took off running from the scene of the crime. "Can you imagine Alan's face when he pulls out _Twisted and Sexy Hot-Volume One _instead of his geography homework!"

"I can't wait to see the teacher's face when she realizes they made more than one volume of that!" Veronica giggled evilly. "So who was who?"

"The one attempting to look all buff and mean was Edgar, the other-Alan."

"Huh, Edgar didn't look half bad. How'd you meet these guys?"

"Edgar! How could you think he's attractive? And I just walked into their shop one day when I was still new here. They're descent guys; they're just really really _really_ into vampire hunting."

"You've just downgraded his hotness. I love vampires. But don't worry, I still find him slightly attractive." Veronica laughed when Sam looked at her with a sickened expression. She shrugged, "It's a girl thing."

"I'm still at the stage where girl are weird and have cooties, don't give me actual facts that support my theory."

"We don't have cooties," she seductively responded, walking closer to him. "We have flesh eating bacteria that thrive on boy brains!" She gave and evil cackle as she messed Sam's hair and took off running towards the Ferris wheel.

"Hey wait up! I can't lose you, everyone will kill me!" Sam fixed his hair then took off running after her.

()()()()()

"Hey boys, do you smell that?" David hissed as the gang came to a rolling stop.

"All I got is corndogs and a sweaty guy," Paul answered.

"No, past all that; follow the wind."

"I'd really rather not," Marko stated as he eyed a pretty little blonde running into a designer shirt store.

"It's that girl; the one who Michael's little twerp of a brother has a crush on." Dwayne said after testing the breeze.

"Very nice Dwayne. Let's go find her," David grinned as the bikes took off, rattling the nearby store windows. Marko sighed and joined the rest of the gang.

()()()()()

Veronica came to a stop half way there, because on a nearby pole was a band flyer.

"What's up?" Sam asked trying to catch his breath.

"Faster Pussycat is playing on the beach next weekend! Oh man, I love them!"

"Really? I've never even heard of them before."

Veronica started jumping up and down, "I'm so coming to the concert with my mom. It's the one band she can somewhat stand! I just really hope Kirby's not going to be in town that day." She stopped jumping and grew downhearted thinking about him. "He would be a total buzz kill to a perfect evening. All he'd do is complain, because he likes country."

Sam gave a shutter, "Ew, who listens to that stuff?"

"I don't know, whenever I listen to country it makes me want to sit in a rocking chair eating watermelon, and then spit the seeds into a tin can. I hate that feeling."

Sam laughed, "I know how you feel. It makes me want to lose a front tooth and start walking everywhere barefoot wearing only blue jean overalls."

"Well now, we wouldn't want that." David mocked as he came up out of nowhere and pushed Sam aside. "So you like Faster Pussycat, Veronica?"

When he said her name an excited shiver went down her spine. "Yeah," she weakly replied. "You've heard of them?"

"Uh, they're like our second favorite band," Paul proclaimed as he sashayed up next to David. The other two were not far behind.

"Who's your first?" Veronica questioned, directing it towards David but looking at everyone.

"The Doors," David responded with a certain edge to his voice-almost on the verge of pride.

Veronica nodded slowly, "Older rock; I like your taste in music."

"Older?" Marko and Paul interjected in astounded unity.

"Sweetheart, they are not that old." Paul protested.

"Their lead singer died in '71…" Veronica weakly countered.

"Yeah, I still remember when that happened. David cried." Paul laughed a little.

"I did not cry," David hissed through clenched teeth.

"Sure you didn't," Dwayne sarcastically appeased.

"Hey, it's okay to cry if a legend like that dies," Veronica began to say, but was cut off early by David.

"I didn't cry."

"Don't be stubborn Davey-poo," Paul cooed.

All David had to do was look the blonde boy in the face and Paul knew right away that he wasn't up for any teasing.

"So how 'bout them?" Marko quickly changed the subject and motioned to the band poster. "Will you be at that concert, too?"

"Oh, you guys are going?"

"Of course," David said, still glaring at Paul.

Sam finally intervened, "She's not sure, she might not be able to go. Come on Veronica," he pulled at her sleeve, "do you still want to ride the Ferris wheel or not?"

"Not go? What would you be doing that would make you too busy to see Faster Pussycat?" David finally averted his gaze from Paul and looked at her.

"Oh no, I'm going. One hundred percent!"

"Good, we'll see you there then, Veronica." David said with a smile on his face. Only Sam could see that his smile was the same as a viper's just before he was ready to strike. To Veronica, it was the smile of a god.

"Boys, we have business to take care of at Debby's. We'd better be on our way before it's too late." David never took his eyes off Veronica as he gave the gang the direction. When he finally did break the look, he casually walked to his bike and rode off with the others in the direction of where that pretty little blonde (aka Debby) Marko had his stomach set on.

"I can't believe it!" Veronica giggled as she began skipping towards the Ferris wheel. "It's almost like a date with him!"

"What?" Sam stopped and pulled on her arm to turn her in his direction. "_Date?_ Did I hear you correctly?"

"That actually wasn't supposed to slip out of my mouth." Veronica's eyes went wide and her face turned red when she realized her thought had formed itself into verbal words.

"Listen, you don't want to get yourself involved with those guys. I know to you they probably seem all wonderful, good looking, and heartthrob-y, but they are very dangerous and will probably end up getting you killed."

"Oh get over yourself Sam," she pulled her arm out of his grip. "Why can Laddie hang with them, but I can't? He's younger than me!"

"Because Paul and Dwayne like him, none of them like you. Not even David. He's just using you to get to me and Michael, because they hate us. With a burning passion. They would rather see us dead than have to sit through a dinner sitting next to us."

"Being a little overdramatic, aren't we?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm pretty sure they wouldn't hurt a fly. They seem like decent guys." She raised her chin a little higher and looked at him straight in the eyes.

Sam stared at her and tried to come up with a rational reason as to why she was thinking this. He could only find one, "You're insane."

"I am not!" Her mouth dropped open at his insult. When he didn't apologize, she rushed past him and began to head in the direction of her house.

"I've decided I'm not spending the night!" She yelled over her shoulder.

"Don't be ridiculous! Listen, if you're that desperate for some weirdo guy, I can still hook you up with Edgar!" He yelled back, trying to get her to slow down. That just made her pick up speed.

"Wouldn't that break your little heart? Maybe I'm wrong, but I was thinking you had a crush on me!" She nastily responded.

"I do I just don't want you to go with those terrible excuses for-" he ran into Veronica's back.

"What did you say?" Her face turned red, but she refused to turn around and look at him.

"Terrible excu-"

"No, before that," she demanded.

"I don't want you to go…"

"Sam. Before that." She demanded through gritted teeth.

"I-I don't think I said anything." He took a few steps back and looked at the ground.

"I think you did, I think you admitted to having a crush on me." She bit down on her tongue. She hadn't meant for this to happen; she wanted to be close to Sam so she could get close to David. But she didn't want him to be in love with her. She only had eyes for guys who roamed the night. Now she was going to have to do something difficult, which would result in losing her only friend: break his heart.

Sam stuttered as he tried to think of a response. Finally he mumbled beneath his breath, "I guess I kind of do."

"Oh Sam…" Finally she turned around to look at him. Seeing him looking down at the ground with that pathetic look on his face was just too much. If only David showed up now, he could whisk her away on his bike.

"Listen, pretend I didn't say anything. Let's just go back home. Are you still spending the night?"

It would be an awkard situation, one she would just have to endure to keep the friendship. "That sounds good. And yeah, Kirby's probably going to be spending the night anyway."

"Kirby's over at your house?"

"Yup. I didn't tell you this, but he made me wash his car, too. Of course, he left his windows open, and I was much too polite to break into his car to close them." She giggled.

"You didn't!" Sam gasped with a smile on his face.

"Oh yes I did. He should have nice soggy seats when he finally leaves."

"You're such a brat!" They laughed as they made their way home, totally forgetting about the awkwardness that was supposed to be between them.

* * *

**So I've just realized that I've been spelling Marko wrong o.o I've been typing it 'Marco', which is a completely different character from a completely different genre of entertainment…**forgive me

Thanks for reviewing:

GordiesGirl7; Margaret Ellie Jeffrey; Creepy. Faced. Smile; Pandora4977; SkittleMachine; ms. sixteencandles

* * *

**Important note!**

I will be taking a _very_ short break on this story so I can redo another story of mine. I made the mistake of rereading it and decided it needed a few changes expecially since it was its one year anniversary a few days ago. It's only three chapters, so it shouldn't take me a terribly long time. Sorry for (mostly likely) pissing a bunch of people off. Please just stick with me! I love you all!


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys! I'm back earlier than expected. Rewriting a story really wasn't as hard or boring as I thought it was going to be. Anyway, enjoy!

**Warning:** This chapter may get a little…spicy. Don't worry; it won't be any M material.

* * *

Finally, Veronica was able to beg her mom to buy the tickets for the Faster Pussycat's concert. It seemed like everything was working out to her favor. Sam hadn't brought up his crush again-which made it easy to ignore that awkwardness-, the day she flooded Kirby's car was the same night a huge storm came through, and in her hand she held her beloved tickets. The only bad thing was that Kirby would be around, so her mom couldn't come. Instead she got Star, Michael, Laddie, and Sam to go. The plan was to head over to Sam's house two hours before the concert to eat dinner, then they would all head over there. Even though Veronica knew better, she still hoped that David would be there to take her over to the concert on his bike.

She jumped into bed and had her mom tuck her in for the night. She shut her eyes and prayed that the weekend would come soon, and that her little "date" with David would be magical.

()()()()()

Star slipped out of the house unnoticed. Michael was out running some errands for Lucy, Laddie was watching Peter Pan, and Sam was over at Tommy's house working on a school project. She quickly arrived at the opening to a familiar cave.

"About time you showed up," a husky growl came from within.

"I had to set Laddie up for the night. He was having problems picking out which movie he wanted." She smiled as she lightly walked into the cave. There, sitting in his wheelchair-turned-throne, was David. He was smoking a cigarette while simultaneously rolling a blunt.

"I'm going to that Faster Pussycat concert this weekend. You coming?" He said, releasing smoke as he spoke.

"Yeah, I'm going with Michael, though. Veronica invited us."

David snorted in reply. He held out the freshly rolled joint to her, but she refused it.

"You know I don't like smoking that stuff."

"I always thought you weren't a whore either." He mumbled.

"David, don't start," she huffed as she leaned her back against a wall behind him.

"You hurt me Star." He stood up, put out his cigarette, and threw the joint on a nearby table.

"I know, and I'm sorry David," she whispered. She felt a shiver go down her spine as he walked closer. "I really really am."

He rapidly came up to her and grabbed her hair, pulling her head back. She let out a startled squeak and her eyes grew wide with surprise. He grabbed her neck with his other hand and dangerously looked into her eyes.

"I should hurt you back, you know." He snarled, his face millimeters away from hers.

She began shaking and realized she had stopped breathing. "David, please," she whispered.

"Please what?" He hissed into her ear.

"I want you," she wrapped her legs around his waist. He shifted her skirt up and pressed her up against the wall harder as their lips crashed together.

()()()()()

**Night of the concert.**

"Now don't go running off on Star and Michael, and don't create any trouble."

"What trouble could a little innocent girl like me cause?" Veronica batted her eyelashes up at her mom.

"I overheard you talking to Sam about wanting to jump onstage to make out with the guitarist, Greg." Her mom gave her a flat look. "Maybe it's about time I gave you _the talk_."

"NO! No! I'm good!" Veronica fled out of the car and waved her mom good-bye when she got to Sam's front door.

The door creaked open and blue eyes peaked out at her. "What's the password?"

"Open the door or I'm going to break it down. Don't get in the way of an overly excited eleven year old, who had a few pixie sticks on the way here."

Michael opened the door with a chuckle, "Well this is a new and violent side to Miss V."

"I don't think you understand my deep love for this band. You're just a meager human being compared to them." She dramatically flopped down on the couch with an arm strewn across her forehead. "I may just faint when they come on; be prepared to carry me home."

"I'll leave that up to Sam, I don't feel like dragging your lard butt home."

Veronica's answer was to stick her tongue out and flip on the TV.

"Well somebody's making themself at home," Star said with a smile as she walked into the living room with Sam behind her. "I made spaghetti for dinner; is that okay?"

"Hold on a minute," Veronica jumped up from the couch and made a little huddle with Michael and Sam. "Does she make good spaghetti?" She whispered.

"Well the sauce is from a bottle and I cooked the noodles, so I'm guessing it's edible." Sam answered.

"Wait, _you_ made the noodles?" Michael questioned his little brother.

"Yeah?"

"I suggest eating the sauce plain, there's no telling what he did to them." Michael whispered to Veronica.

"You can't eat sauce plain, that's unethical." Star said, biting back a smile.

"Crap, she can hear us! Abort the mission!" Veronica and Sam squealed as they ran into the kitchen.

"How on earth are we going to keep them in line when we go to the concert?" Michael looked to Star.

"I don't know, but I'm sure you'll come up with a plan," she winked at him.

Dinner went by much too slow for Veronica, but no one else seemed to notice. The spaghetti ended up being tolerable, but the garlic bread was what stole the show. Veronica was a little downhearted to see Max eat a slice, but decided not to let it ruin her night since Max seemed too nice to be a vampire anyway. She decided the garlic bread must have been the reason why David didn't show up, and stayed quiet thinking of different situations that could happen at the concert.

Her favorite scenario was where she got up on stage to meet the band and sang along with them, then David drove her to his house on his motorcycle, revealed to her that he was a vampire, and then turned her into one. Sam picked up on her smile and asked her what she was thinking about.

"Do you think they'll let me on stage?" She snapped out of her day dream.

"You can jump up there and see what happens," Michael joked.

"Michael, we promised to keep her out of trouble." Star lightly slapped his arm.

"If Miss V is determined to cause chaos, then I don't think we'll be able to stop her. She looks uncontrollable; I mean, just look at all that crazy in her eyes."

"Haha, very funny," Veronica stuck her tongue out. "Well I'm done! Are we ready to go yet?"

"We have an hour, just calm down." Sam answered.

"Fine, if you insist," she sighed and slouched down in her chair.

The time finally came, and they headed out the door and piled into Max's car. Michael was driving-much to Veronica's despair-, Star was in the passenger seat, and Sam and Laddie were scrunched in the back with Veronica. Just to irritate her, Michael decided to be a safe, courteous, and slow driver. They finally arrived, even with Veronica's whining, and started walking to the beach. Sam and Veronica were playfully racing, when Veronica stopped in her tracks. Sitting on their bikes were some familiarly sexy guys.

"Well, look who it is. I heard a rumor that you were coming," David flashed a criminal smile to Star, who quickly looked away.

"Don't you guys have anything better to do than torment us?" Michael casually said.

"Tormenting? Why, we're just here to enjoy the concert with Veronica."

"Then help us keep her out of trouble. Make sure she doesn't raid the stage or anything," Michael lightly bopped the top of Veronica's head and began walking to the beach that was beginning to fill with people.

Paul raised an eyebrow at her. "A frisky little thing, are we? If you want, I'll help throw you up there!" He held his head back and laughed as Veronica gave a half smile.

"Really Paul, don't encourage her," Star reprimanded when she walked past the boys to follow Michael. As she walked past David, Veronica swore she saw him reach out and slap her rear; yet it was so quick she began to question herself. Laddie galloped after her, but was scooped up by Dwayne and thrown onto his shoulders.

"Ready to rock out lil man?" Paul asked as he strode with Dwayne to the beach. Veronica never heard Laddie's answer, but saw a very energetic high five pass between the two, almost knocking Laddie off Dwayne's shoulders.

Veronica crinkled her nose and turned to Sam, "Is he always like that?"

"High? No. Mentally unstable? Yes."

"I wouldn't call him mentally unstable, just a little…eccentric." Marko cleared up. David pulled out a cigarette and handed it him, then made Marko light both of theirs. He suddenly got an evil glint in his eye that passed between him and Marko, was picked up on by Sam, and went unnoticed by Veronica.

"You just can't wait to get her into trouble, can you?" Marko whispered so only David could hear.

"I have to entertain myself somehow," he replied. In a louder voice he addressed Marko, "Don't you think we should be heading down to the concert? We don't want to miss the beginning."

"Come on little Sammy, let's go find your big brother so you won't get lost," Marko teased him in a baby voice. He put an arm around him and began dragging him away.

"Get lost!" Sam flailed his hands to try to get away from Marko, but that just caused him to tighten his hold and drag Sam away faster.

Now Veronica was completely alone with David, and he was staring at her with cold blue eyes as she watched Sam.

"We should probably…follow them," she got out in a soft voice.

"Does your mother smoke?" He asked watching his cigarette as he twirled it around in his fingers..

Veronica looked at him with a confused expression. "…No? She's against smoking, like majorly. She actually made Kirby stop."

"Kirby?"

"He's no one," she went back to her soft voice and looked at the ground.

"He's obviously someone you don't like."

"He's just…my mom's boyfriend."

David was quiet for a moment as he put out the butt of his last smoke, "Do you want to get back at your mom for dating this guy?"

"What?" She looked up and saw he had two cigarettes in his mouth, and lit them at the same time. He handed one to her and turned his back, walking towards the crowd.

"Follow me, I'll find you a place up front." He called over his shoulder.

Veronica felt light headed as she looked at the cigarette. It had been on his lips, in his mouth. She wanted to take just one drag off of it, but couldn't bring herself to do it. She slowly began walking after him, but then she got up the courage and brought it to her lips. She stopped and inhaled just a little bit, trying to keep the smoke in her mouth. That didn't work, and she ended up throwing the cigarette to the ground, hacking her lungs out with a disgusted look on her face. The fact that she basically just kissed David was at the very back of her mind as she wondered why the hell people liked to smoke these things in the first place.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

Pandora4977; Creepy. Faced. Smile; N3ko8; Even. The. Stars. Refuse. To. Shine; and my awesome guests: 123dork; StrangeGirl21

**123dork: **Thanks for giving my story a chance! Much appreciated! :D


	8. Chapter 8

After locating a water fountain and once her coughs receded, she caught up to Sam. "Where'd David go?"

"Why do you care? And why are your eyes all red and watery?"

"I choked on my spit and stopped breathing for a while." She quickly retorted as she looked over his shoulder for David and the other boys. It was hard to see with everyone crammed in so close, and there being no light except for the tiki lights spread across the beach.

"Who you looking for, Miss V?" Michael came up behind her, a slight smell of alcohol on him.

"I can smell someone's already hit the bar," Sam sneered. "I really hope you're not driving us home. I'm too young and beautiful to die."

"Beautiful? Don't lie, it's unattractive. And I'm not planning on getting wasted, Mom," Michael jeered back.

"Have you seen David and the others?" Veronica asked, ignoring the small bickering going on between the brothers. "David said he could get me a spot up close to the stage."

"Yeah, Star went with them. I think they're somewhere by the bar." Michael pointed a thumb behind him to indicate where it was. Veronica nodded and headed in that direction, leaving the two brothers to duel it out themselves. By the time she weeded her way through the crowd, only David and Star were left at the bar, standing relatively close to each other. David saw Veronica approach out of the corner of his eye and backed away from Star a little.

"They're about to come on stage, ready to find a spot?" He asked when she came within earshot.

"How are you going to find a place close up? It's already crowded near the stage and I don't want Veronica to get hurt." Star worried.

"Trust me, I'll find a way," he gave her a flat look and grabbed a beer off the counter. With his other arm, he put it around Veronica and led her towards the stage. Star wasn't far behind them.

"What are you doing?" He stopped and looked at her.

"I'm not letting you take Veronica up there alone. Someone has to watch her and make sure she doesn't get lost, kidnapped, or hurt." Star responded with an irritated look. "Plus, I don't fully trust you guys."

There was no emotion on David's face when he answered her. "She's not a child Star, let her be. Besides, I didn't invite you." He quickly walked off with Veronica in tow. Veronica looked back and saw a look of hurt on Star's face.

"I'm okay with her coming along," Veronica quietly commented. David looked down on her with cold eyes. "Never mind," she quickly changed her answer.

"I hate the bitch. She's only good in-" he cut himself off, realizing he wasn't in the presence of his buddies, but of a young girl who seemed to like Star.

"Why do you hate her?" Veronica stopped and looked up at him with surprised eyes.

"You're too young to know or understand. Maybe when you're older."

"I'm not that young!" She protested.

"Yeah? How old are you then?"

"I'm eleven years old." She stated in a matter-of-fact way.

"That's still young."

"Yeah, well how old are you?" She interrogated him as they started walking again.

He gave a deep chuckle, "Older than you think I am."

Veronica's heart stopped for a minute; she decided to play cool and continue, "Well I think you're in your twenties."

He gave a rumbling growl with a smirk as he led her into the crowd. He grabbed onto her hand and led her behind him so as to move through the mob of people better. She began to feel light headed again when she comprehended that _she_ was holding _David's_ hand. Sure it was more like him roughly grabbing her wrist and dragging her along, but it was close enough. They came to a small area cleaned out of people except for Laddie, Paul, Marko, and Dwayne. David put Veronica next to Laddie and went over by the other boys. Veronica was half-tempted to follow him, but everything around her seemed to fade away when all the stage lights went out and five men stepped out on stage. The lights flashed on with the sound of a guitar, and Veronica couldn't even remember her name as she was carried off into heaven.

Halfway through the concert Michael came and joined the Boys. He panicked when he didn't see Veronica, until Paul pointed out that she was pressed up against the stage with a bunch of other people, happily singing her little heart out. Veronica was so busy fulfilling one of her lifetime goals that she didn't notice a bottle being passed around to the Boys and Michael. If she would have paid extra close attention, she would have noticed the liquid in the bottle looked a lot like blood.

()()()()()

Almost an hour and a half later, the concert was done and Veronica felt a stabbing ache in her heart as she watched them walk off stage. To her surprise, Greg-the guitarist- came to the edge of the stage where Veronica was and got on his knees. Saying Veronica was overjoyed, delighted, and thrilled would be the understatement of the year when Greg personally handed her one of his used picks. Many hands were after him, but he ignored them as he bent down a little farther and whispered in her ear.

"Someone told me you had a crush on me, and I was highly flattered. I couldn't resist meeting you. You're adorable, and don't let anyone tell you any different." He finished by giving her a quick peck on the cheek. Veronica was unable to do anything but stutter out a thank you and stare at him with big eyes. He flashed her a perfectly white smile, before going backstage.

Veronica didn't know how long she had been rooted to that spot, but by the time David came over and put his hand on her shoulder, a quarter of the crowd was already gone. "Hope that didn't give you a heart attack."

"Nah, looks more like a stroke," Paul laughed as he came up besides David.

"Nope, that's a look of love," Marko kidded as he joined Paul.

"Ready to go home Miss V?" Michael examined her face and noticed she was about to break out in tears.

"Yeah, yeah I-I think I a-am," she finally got out before sniffing away some tears of joy. "Mom won't believe what happened."

Michael took over from David and ushered her back towards the car as Laddie went with the Boys. Veronica felt like she was floating on air, and Sam barely broke her out of her cloud of love when they arrived at the car.

"What happened to you? Veronica?" He asked a few times, before poking her in the arm.

She slipped into the backseat next to Sam as she answered, "Something magical." Sam just shrugged and Michael told him to make sure she didn't leave any drool on the seats.

Michael took off at a high speed, but Veronica didn't notice. She was focusing on that burning kiss Greg had left behind. All the David events that had taken place earlier, were completely overridden. For now.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

Pandora4977; lost boys luvr; Strangegirl21; N3ko8; Creepy. Faced. Smile; GordiesGirl7; and my guest!

**Pandora4977: **I feel so loved right now! I'm honestly smiling and gurgling like a baby at your compliment! You have just made my night!


	9. Chapter 9

Veronica woke with a start. Where was she? Did someone just call her name? Why did she smell like smoke and beer? And why on earth was something sharp poking her hand?

"You vampire loving geek! Wake the hell up!" A voice screamed to her from somewhere far away.

"Samuel! Watch your language! Why don't you take your lazy butt upstairs and wake her up yourself!?" A man's voice screamed back. It was Max's voice.

Suddenly everything made sense. She was in the guest bedroom in Sam's house, Sam was calling for her to wake up, last night she was at a concert-which explained why she smelt like a bar-, and she still held Greg's pick in her hand. The bedroom door swung open and Sam stormed in with a smirk on his face.

"It's one in the afternoon, and your mother's already called here three times asking how last night went."

"I haven't been asleep for that long…" She looked at him with a confused face.

"Uh, yeah you have. You fell asleep in the car, didn't even twitch when Michael carried you inside, and you didn't make a single sound as he flopped you on the bed. Star was the one who tucked you in. I have to compliment you on how heavy a sleeper you are. Did you have a little bit too much Greg?"

"Thanks, but I could never have too much of him," she grinned.

"Well, my mom just finished lunch if you want some. She made BLT's and you can raid the pantry for chips."

"Is Max home? He sounded like he was in a bad mood." She asked as she got out of bed and followed Sam downstairs.

"Yeah, but he's asleep; that's why he sounded so irritated. Never wake the dead, unless you want to get chewed out," Sam laughed.

Veronica scrunched her nose in confusion, "He's still asleep?"

"He works the nightshift at his video store. That's when most of the business comes in so it's just easier than hiring someone else. Plus, he's not much of a morning person unless there's a reason for him to be up."

"Good morning, or should I say afternoon?" Lucy cooed as Veronica walked in with her clothes crinkled, her hair a mess, and a bad case of morning breath attacking her mouth. Lucy grimaced when she smelt the smoke coming off of Veronica. "When you're done eating you can take a shower. I'll go get some soap and a towel set out for you." She said as she scuttled out of the kitchen.

"My mom's not too keen on smoking. She hates the smell of it." Sam explained.

"Mine too! It makes a guy look so cool though," Veronica mused.

Sam snorted, "Yeah, lung cancer and hacking up blood is quite attractive." He pulled out a bag of chips from the pantry and sat down at the small kitchen table next to Veronica.

Sam continued, "Sometimes David will come over and smoke in the house right in front of her. Irritates her, but she won't say anything. David scares the piss out of her."

"She's afraid of David?"

Sam just looked at her and changed the subject. "Tomorrow afternoon the Frog Brothers and I are going to go raid the Boardwalk. Did you want to come with us?"

"Sure! Hey, what ever happened with the comics?" She remembered the crude and risqué comics the brothers gave to Sam, and how her and Sam paid them back.

"I don't know, they never mentioned anything and I didn't want to bring it up. I haven't really talked to them much since then though…"

"They're probably plotting your death," she casually thought as she bit into her sandwich with a crunch.

"Maybe we should cancel tomorrow," he whispered, staring out of the window with a worried look on his face.

After lunch and a shower, Veronica ended up going home to tell her mom about her late-night adventure and see if she could spend another night. Luckily Kirby wasn't there so it wasn't hard to get permission. But, her mom didn't believe that Greg would go out of his way to hand her his pick (Veronica conveniently left out the kiss part). She showed her mom the proof, and that did the trick. Her mom wished she would have gone just to see her daughter's face when the event took place.

Veronica stayed for dinner, and after a slightly burnt meal of pork chops, her mom took her back over to Max's home. This time she decided to come in with Veronica.

"Mom, do you really have to?" Veronica whined.

"Yes, I want to thank Max for putting up with you and try to get to know Lucy a little better."

Veronica moaned a whatever and slunk her way into the house. To her surprise, Marko was there talking to Michael on the living room couch.

"Hey there Miss V, I was wondering when you were coming back," Michael grinned to her. Veronica froze, wondering what the heck Marko was doing there.

"Hello! You must be Michael?" Her mom lightly pushed Veronica out of the way and went over to him. He stood up and they shook hands.

"That would be me," he grinned. "This is Marko, he's a friend." He nodded towards the curly haired man.

"Well it's very nice to meet you. Is Lucy and Max around?"

"Max's at work right now, but Lucy's in the kitchen with Sam. He's cleaning up after dinner since he decided to be a butt and make a mess." Michael flopped back down on the couch and Marko let out a chuckle.

Veronica sighed, "What did he do?"

"Threw all of Mom's garlic at Marko." Michael bit back a laugh.

Marko snickered, "The only thing that managed to do was make me smell like some Italian dish."

Michael turned serious and looked at him with his head cocked a little and his brows slightly scrunched together, "You're Italian, aren't you?"

"Yeah, a little," Marko nodded. "Hey Little V! Did you want me to turn your pick into a necklace for you? I stole a piece of leather off of David; I'm sure he won't mind."

"I got a drill you could use in the garage." Michael added. They were both looking at Veronica for her answer.

Instead, her mom intervened, "That sounds wonderful! You still have it on you, right dear?"

"Yes Mom," she groaned. "I'll drop you off in the kitchen first."

After handing her mother off to Lucy, Veronica snuck out to the garage with Marko. So as not to raise suspicion with Sam, she told him Michael was coming with them, though that was not the truth since Michael left to go visit Star at work.

Once in the garage, Marko went to a workbench to hunt out the hand drill and Veronica stood in a corner awkwardly shifting from foot to foot. "So Little V, how'd you enjoy the concert?" Marko queried once he had successfully found the drill and a stool to sit on.

Veronica shrugged, "Well one of my life goals has been completed so…"

"So it was pretty amazing?" He looked up to her with a smile then went back to work. He flipped his hair over his shoulder before drilling. In a second it was done and he strung the small strand of leather through the hole.

"How's it look?" He held up the necklace to Veronica. She nodded her approval and he walked over and tied it around her neck. Once that was done, he walked her back to the kitchen door, but didn't come in.

"I'll see you around little Sammy Wammy!" He cooed before heading to his bike in the driveway. This made Veronica giggle while Sam scowled at the man. She showed off her new jewelry to her mom and Lucy before sliding on over to Sam.

"He's just teasing you."

"Yeah, well he gets on my nerves. He needs to go fly off with his pigeons."

"What?" Veronica stared a Sam like he had just lost his mind.

"He has pet pigeons because he's a total freak." Sam pouted as he put away the last plate.

"Now Sam, be nice," Lucy scolded, overhearing the conversation. "There's nothing wrong with having pets."

"Yeah, but why does he have to have pets that poop all the time?" He whined back.

"Everybody poops," Veronica giggled at Sam's little hissy fit.

"True, but at least most animals don't take a dump in my hair." This brought on a fit of laughter from not only Veronica, but also her mother and Lucy. Sam tried to bite back his laugh, but he gave a defeated sigh and joined them.

()()()()()

"Hey Alexis," Michael nodded to the older cashier as he walked into the twenty-four hour drug store. "How's that new hip replacement doing?"

"I feel like a new lady!" She responded with a grin that was missing a few teeth. "It's so much easier to catch them younger, better looking boys now that I can move faster."

Michael chuckled, "I bet it is. Is Star in the back room?"

His question brought a confused look on her face. "No? Why would she be?"

"Heh, cause she works here Alexis. Are you feeling alright?"

"Oh boy," Alexis whispered as she shook her head. "I have a feeling you two haven't been communicating as well as a couple ought to be. She quit her job a lil' over a week ago; I'm surprised she didn't tell you. No worries though, I've got my grandson Randy coming to work for me next month."

"What? I…then where has she been for the past week?"

"Beats me, but if I were you, I'd check out that new strip club that got built not too long ago. I heard the owner was a scum bucket that tells pretty girls he'll pay 'em double whatever they're currently making, then turn around and pay them even less! Maybe she got sucked into his little web. Could explain why she didn't tell you," she shrugged. A customer came up to the counter, so Michael nodded to Alexis and left.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

GordiesGirl7; N3ko8; Pandora4977; lost boys luvr; SkittleMachine; Even. The. Stars. Refuse. To. Shine; and my guest- NoDoubt96


	10. Chapter 10

On his way home, Michael decided to stop by the cave to see if the Boys knew where Star was.

"Hey David," Michael called as he jumped down into the cave. "Where is everyone?"

David looked up from a piece of metal he was working on-most likely from his bike- and gave a half smile to him. "Marko's still with Veronica, Max has Dwayne doing an errand in the next town over, and Paul…I honestly don't know where Paul is. I don't bother to keep track of him anymore."

"How about Star?"

At this, David slowly put the metal down, "How would I know Michael, she's your bitch; I was thinking you'd keep her on a tight leash."

"I'm not like that David. It's just that she quit work without telling me and I don't know where the hell she's been for the past week!" Michael's voice got louder and quicker.

"Oh, you guys having a little tiff? You know, Star isn't the most trustworthy girl. She's probably off screwing some new guy." He snickered, "Watch him be a werewolf or something."

"Yeah well, that's about all she deserves."

"Hey now, I dated a werewolf once and she wasn't that bad. Though she did lick more than kiss my face." David grimaced at the memories.

Michael sighed and sat down in a chair next to David. He told him how Alexis mentioned the new strip club.

David had a hint of humor in his eyes at Michael's story. "If you'd like, I could send Paul over there and check it out for you."

"Maybe that would be best; if I saw her on stage I would probably lose it in front of all those people."

"Oh now, _that_ wouldn't be good." David stood up and fetched a couple of beers for them. When he was out of Michael's sight he smiled to himself on how well his plan was falling into place.

It was almost sun rise when Michael was done having some 'brotherly bonding time' with David and left to go back home and wait for Star. David released a deep throaty laugh as he sat down on the bed in the corner.

"You can come out now," he growled with a sick grin.

"I feel absolutely terrible," Star frowned as she walked out from somewhere deep inside the cave. "He thinks I'm working as a stripper now!"

"Would you rather him think that, or know the truth?"

She thought about it before shaking her head, "I have to go home. I'm going to have to explain this all to him."

"No!" David shot up off the bed and pinned her against a wall. "You will not ruin this for me. I'll tell him when the time's right."

Star couldn't speak until he had let her go. "What are you talking about?"

"I can't tell you Star, because you're part of it."

"David…"

"Don't you know that family comes before sluts," his face contorted and eyes turned orange as he tightened his grip.

()()()()()

To Veronica's despair, none of the Boys showed up that night. Sam could tell her mind was elsewhere as they played a violent game of Monopoly (Sam and Michael had invented new rules that involved the Mafia and blood money), but he decided to keep his questions to himself since he knew what she was thinking. He was content as he reminded himself that soon her fetish with the Boys would be over once the Frog Brothers told her how vampires _really _are. Then she could focus on him-or Edgar. Sure he'd be sad if she chose that macho freak over him, but at least she wouldn't be a bloodsucker.

"Sam!" Veronica yelled to get the boy's attention. "I will be right back, my mom is leaving and I must tell her good-bye." She pronounced the sentence like he was slow.

"Yeah yeah," he waved her off, embarrassed she caught him in the middle of his thoughts.

Veronica ran downstairs and hugged her mom good night. Lucy was back in the kitchen getting out ingredients for some cookies when her mom whispered in her ear.

"You really should introduce me to the rest of Michael's friends. That Marko guy's a hunk!" She winked, laughed at her daughter's horrified expression, and then headed home.

Veronica was too busy mentally puking her guts out to remember to ask Lucy why she was making cookies at ten o'clock at night. Instead, she plodded up the stairs like a zombie and collapsed on the floor of Sam's bedroom next to their game of The Godfather Monopoly.

"What's the matter?" Sam straightened up from lying on his side to a cross-legged position and grew a worried look. "Did your mom tell you some bad news?"

"She…she…she…oh Sam!" She overdramatically threw her arm up to her forehead and wailed, "She's got the hots for Marko!"

"Holy balls of fury, that is disgusting!" Sam shrieked back with an equally horrified face. It suddenly dawned on him on how important all this really was. It wouldn't take much for Marko to pick up on that; and if he did, then her mom would most surely go missing. He felt the need to tell his brother right away, but unfortunately he wasn't home. It would have to wait until morning, even though Michael was a bear to try to wake up. This meeting with the Frog Brothers couldn't come soon enough.

They finally finished their game-with Veronica winning by having one of her hit men hunt down Sam's family and killing them all so she could steal his fortune-just in time for the scent of fresh baked cookies to float on up to the room.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

N3ko8; Pandora4977; Even. The. Stars. Refuse. To. Shine; lovelovelove198090; and my guests: NoDoubt96; StrangeGirl21

Thank's for the support and sticking with me. I appreciate and love you all! A new update should be around same time next week!


	11. Chapter 11

"Where the heck are they?" Sam whined as him and Veronica stood on an empty street. They were facing a closed arcade with part of its roof caving in.

Veronica blew a stray hair out of her face. Instead of her normal braided pigtails, she just did one long braid down the back. She always liked the way that style looked on her, and she wanted to look special for Edgar. Not that she had a crush on him or anything, her heart was with David. "Why couldn't we just meet them at their comic book store?"

"They told me to wait for them in front of _Zapper Center_," Sam answered, referring to the abandoned arcade.

"Whatever happened to this place, anyway?"

"I'm glad you asked," a deep throaty voice spoke to the two. They couldn't figure out where it was coming from, but Sam had the odd suspicion that it belonged to the Bandana Freak-aka, Edgar.

There was some whispering and rustling sounds that sounded like a struggle; Veronica was about to ask the voice if it was alright, but it cleared it's throat and continued. "About three years ago, an epic battle took place here; between vampires and vampires with humans stuck in the middle."

"How come I've never heard of this before?" Veronica questioned with a hint of boredom.

"Shush," the voice demanded. "There were six vampires that were hunting around these parts, and the head honcho one of Santa Carla didn't like them on his turf. So he sent his four minions after them."

"How were four vampires supposed to defend their land from six?" Veronica quizzed the voice, her interested perked a little.

"These four were bad ass mothers that have been around a lot longer than the six newbies. Well, they were newbies in the vampire world. To us humans, they were as old as time itself."

"Stop being dramatic! They were only vampires for twenty years!" A different sounding hushed voice scolded the louder one.

"Hey, whose story is this? Anyway," the throaty one continued, "the newbies were bad at hiding their kills, but good at hiding themselves. The four couldn't find them for the longest time."

"It was only about two weeks," the hushed voice added.

"Shut up! Let me tell it before I beat you over the head. Why did you have to come out so annoying?"

"Why did you have to come out so weird?"

"Guys?" Sam interfered, "The story please."

The throaty voice went on, "_Two weeks_ it took them to hunt down the six. They found them living in the crawl space of this here building. Now as you may or may not know-if you're a girly girl I wouldn't expect this knowledge to be known to you-arcades are open during the day for the younger kids and at night is when the teenagers and young adults come to hang out. This one in particular, though, had a nice collection of drug dealers that would hang out in the alley behind it. This arcade ran all through the night because of that. Now this was a problem to the four, because the six wouldn't come out. Believe it or not, there are some smart vampires out there; the four knew they couldn't barge in and kill them all, for that would cause a panic."

"Can you speed things up a bit?" Sam stifled a yawn. He had heard this story around five times already.

"Fine! Basically what happened was the six threw some disgusting comments about the four and their mothers and that made one of the four flip out…let's just call him Saul for now. The leader of the four…Daniel, tried to restrain Saul. He even had the strongest of the group-Wayne-help out, but Saul wasn't having any of this. He got his buddy…" The voice trailed off trying to think of a name to give him.

"Polo!" The hushed voice suggested.

"Yes! Polo! So Saul and Polo got together and snuck in to try and get them to come outside to fight. The six had a giant ego and decided to run the wrong way and headed into the arcade itself. Daniel was ticked and decided to do something rash. He tried to get all the people out of the arcade before the fight began by tricking the fire alarm. Unfortunately, by the time it started, the six started fighting with the four. Some people were able to get out without seeing anything, but the others who did see stuff had to be murdered."

The four defeated the six and the last thing they had to do, was cover their tracks. So going with David's plan, they lit the place on fire and left the human bodies there to burn with the building."

"David?" Veronica caught on to the voice's slip.

"Daniel," it corrected.

"No, you said David. What are you telling me, that the guys are these vampires in the story?"

Sam groaned, "You guys suck when it comes to making up names. I mean come on, Wayne for Dwayne? Really?"

"Hush children! The wise men are done for tonight. We want you to digest that story Little Dull and Oblivious Veronica, and think about who you really want as friends."

Veronica started to regret making herself up for this meeting. "Edgar…" she tried to think of a comeback, but failed miserably. "You're stupid."

There was a moment of silence before Edgar yelled, "Attack!" along with a war cry. Suddenly, both Sam and Veronica were soaked to the bone from an enormous amount of water balloons being launched at them from the roof of the arcade. "This is what you get for messing with the Frog Brothers!"

"Sam! Make is stop!" Veronica screamed. It was of no use though, the Frog Brothers were excellent planners and had Sam and Veronica cornered. She shut her eyes and turned her back so that the balloons wouldn't break her glasses. She felt the balloons pause in their attack, but could still hear them breaking against something. She looked up and saw Sam shielding her with a metal garbage can lid as he took the brunt of the hits.

"Take this," he handed her a sack of something he pulled from the garbage can. "You have to aim it at them, I can't see squat!"

Veronica nodded and took the plastic bag. It was tinted red but she was still able to see through to its contents. It was full of dog crap. She got a wicked grin on her face as she turned around and peeked out from behind her shield. There was one head she knew she might be able to reach.

She undid the bag and gagged at the smell. "Bombs away!" She screeched and threw the bag.

The balloon attack stopped right away. "Holy…dog shit." Alan gawked as he stared at his brother. He began snorting with laughter. "Can that girl aim or what!?"

Sam took down her shield so she could get a better look. She gasped in amazement at what she had done. Right in the middle on top of Edgar's head was a splattered pile of brown mush with flies beginning to form.

"Whoa," was Sam's only comment.

"Ew," was Edgar's.

"Oops," was Veronica's.

But for Alan, he turned and faced Veronica with a smile. "I like you! We should really add you to our group!"

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

N3ko8; and my guests NoDoubt96; 3DreamQueen3; Uknowwhoitis ;D


	12. Chapter 12

So this is of no importance to the story, but the new wave of freshman in school brought in a kid that literally looks like Sam only with blonde highlights and is on the football team. I was highly amused and figured only my fellow Lost Boys freaks would understand~

* * *

Because of Veronica's wonderful aiming skills, they had to leave the boardwalk early so Edgar could go home and wash his new cologne out of his hair. Sam and Veronica ended up wasting the rest of the day riding scooters and bikes down in the nearby park once they switched into dry clothes. Veronica ended up heading home early since they were so close; she could always get her stuff from Sam's house tomorrow. She waved good-bye and hopped into her home. She found her mom in the office room, where she was busy figuring out paperwork.

"You're actually home?" Her mom looked astonished when she picked her head up from the car wash's tax returns.

"Yeah, I remember you telling me how you needed to go to the library and I thought I'd come along." Veronica started playing with a few knickknacks decorating the only self in the room.

"Don't break those," her mom warned. "Did you finish Twilight already?"

"Mom, I finished that a few months ago. I'm still working my way through Dracula, but I think you were right-I am still a little too young. Most of it is going over my head. So, I thought I would tag along with you and pick out a different book."

"That sounds fine; is Sam tagging along?"

"Nah, I'm doing this solo."

"Alright, I'll be done in a few minutes," her mom nodded then went back to the paper work. Veronica skipped out of the room and started her search for her library card.

After tearing her room apart and starting for the living room, she realized that it was in her wallet, which was in her overnight bag…which was at Sam's. "Hey Mom?" She popped her head into the office, "We might need to stop by Sam's house; my library card's spending the night there."

"Oh alright," she sighed without looking up at her. Instead, she looked up at the clock that read 6:27 pm. "How about you pull out some leftovers and warm them up while I finish this? We can eat then head to the library after picking up your card."

"Mom? The library closes at seven. We don't have time."

"Today's Saturday; they're open till eight." She heard her daughter sigh in exasperation and picked up the phone on her desk. "Fine. Let me call Max and see if someone's home so we can pick up your card. Go get your shoes on," she stared at her daughter's surprisingly dirty feet, "and after dinner you're taking a bath."

"Can we stop at Wendy's for dinner?"

"Do you promise to jump in the shower as soon as you step into the house?"

"Yes," Veronica batted her eyelashes with an angelic smile.

"Sounds like a plan!" Her mom finally looked at her as she waited for Max to pick up.

()()()()()

"Hello Marko!" Veronica's mom beamed as the two walked into Max's house. Veronica felt her throat tighten as her mom ignored Max and headed straight for the _young_ adult.

"I should be off, I needed to be at work at least by six-thirty, and now it's almost seven. Maria's going to kill me," Max lamented. They waved good-bye as Sam came trampling down the stairs with all of Veronica's items. Michael ushered Marko away from Veronica's mom after saying their greetings and headed out to the garage. Star was nowhere in sight.

"It was so nice to see you again, Marko!" Veronica's mom waved as Michael's grip tightened on the grinning boy's arm.

"I do hope we get to spend more time together, but Michael's bike isn't working and the dweeb can't fix it himself."

"Can it Marko," Michael growled under his breath. He didn't seem to be in such a great mood like Veronica was used to.

Sam handed over the bags and said hello to her mother. There was an awkward silence so Veronica decided to make the trip a short one and promised to come back over tomorrow with her library findings. Sam gave a half smile with a nod and they went their separate ways. Meanwhile, out in the garage, Michael was giving Marko an earful about keeping away from older women and leaving Veronica with a mother. Marko leaned against a wall and started daydreaming about winning a motorcycle race that was happening tomorrow on the beach. Too bad it was in the afternoon.

At the library, Veronica sped off as her mother headed towards the adult romance section. Veronica started hunting through the young adult paranormal romances until she was positive her mom wouldn't be able to see her sneak off to the history section. She went up to the help counter and asked the worker where they kept the Microfiche films for the Carla Communications articles.

"Is there a specific date or event you're looking for?" The librarian looked at Veronica through her large glasses that were about to slide off her nose.

"Mmm, well I don't know the exact date but it happened about three years ago. Actually, I don't even know if it really happened."

"Explain yourself better, child," the gray-haired librarian barked. Veronica flinched back and felt intimidated.

"I heard there was a fire at this arcade calle-"

"_Zapper Center_, yes yes yes, I know what you're talking about." She abruptly stood up and started quickly walking to a door a few feet away. Each time her black heels struck the floor Veronica cringed, paranoid that her mother would come out from the rows of books and look to see who was making such a racket. Once the librarian opened the door she flipped on the lights to reveal boxes and boxes of Microfiche film and a Microfiche reader next to them all. It didn't take her very long to pull out the right one.

"There's many articles about it, but this is the first one and most informative. I assume you're doing this for a summer school project?" The librarian sniffed, looking down at her.

"N-no, I was just curious about what my friends were talking about. I wasn't here when it happened and I couldn't believe their story."

"I can understand why; it's one of the biggest rumors to go around Santa Carla. Don't believe what they tell you, the bodies didn't have any trace of blood in them because the fire dried it all up. Any simpleton would know that." She huffed as she walked out and left Veronica to the article.

Veronica suddenly felt very, very cold. But not the kind of cold that a blanket and hot coco could fix, it was a cold that made her feel tingly and want to cry. She blinked away the tears as she skimmed through the article:

_Last night a fire broke out at the local arcade, Zapper Center…There were a total of nine deaths, one of the deaths being a fireman named Thomas Symon. The roof caved in on him before he was able to escape. A memorial will be held in Traver's Park this weekend…The eight teenagers and young adults will have a memorial on the fourteenth of this month…There has been no sign of foul play, but also no sign as to what set the fire off. One more odd detail to this case is that there were two bodies that weren't completely burned, yet had no trace of blood in them. Will this add to Santa Carla's notorious vampire legend?...A few of the witnesses that escaped said there was a fight that broke out right after the alarm went off…Unfortunately, the police are not able to identify who was fighting at that time…If you have any information, please contact local authorities._

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

N3ko8; Even. The. Stars. Refuse. To. Shine; SkittleMachine; NoDoubt96; 3DreamQueen3; Pandora4977

**3DreamQueen3: **Thank you so much for the compliment! Being an aspiring writer, it basically made my life. Break In is currently done with because I haven't updated it in so long and my writing had improved so much I'm afraid the chapters won't flow. I'm thinking of deleting it all and starting over, but it's on the very bottom of my list right now. But now that I know someone's interested in it, I may just start it up again!


	13. Chapter 13

Veronica didn't eat much of her Wendy's dinner. She didn't even bother to pick the pickles off her burger, even though she hated them. Her mom questioned her a few times, but to no avail; Veronica wouldn't spill her guts. Even as they walked out of the restaurant her mind was still all wrapped up with what the Frog Brothers had to say and how Santa Carla had a notorious vampire legend that she knew nothing about. Maybe David really was a vampire and her fantasies weren't all that far off? But what about Max; he works nights, doesn't leave the house if the sun's out, and there's no mirrors in the house. Yet there was garlic? What about Lucy and the cookies? Sam wouldn't keep vampire information like that away from her, would he?

"Veronica, wrong car!" Her mom's sudden shrill yell jerked her out of her thoughts. She looked down at the car handle she had in her hand and felt her face flush red. It wasn't her mom's truck handle; it was some black Jeep handle.

"Geez child, where's your mind been at all night? Something didn't happen in the library did it?"

"No, I'm just sad I couldn't find a book." Veronica mumbled her terrible lie. Her mom shrugged it off and started the car. When they pulled into the driveway there was an unwelcoming sight; a black Pontiac Firebird.

"Kirby's here?" Veronica whined loudly.

"Oh! I guess he is. By the way, I gave him your key; since school is out I figured you wouldn't need it. I'll make another spare before September."

"Does he really have to have a key to the house?"

"Veronica," her mother snapped, "I don't want to hear it right now-check that, I don't want to hear it _ever_."

"Fine," Veronica curtly responded along with a violent push on the car door, which earned her a dirty look from her mother. Veronica nodded a hello to Kirby before rushing up to her room and stealing the hallway phone. The wire was just long enough so she could close the door of her bedroom, but she had to sit right up against it. Right now she was wishing she knew David's number. He acted like he liked her and if he was a vampire, then he should be more than willing to drain Kirby of his blood.

"Hello?" A depressed sigh answered on the third ring.

"Michael? Is Sam there?" Veronica answered, too busy with her own problem to notice Michael's.

"I don't know, I'm down in the basement. Hold on a minute." There was a pause before Veronica jerked the phone away from her ear at Michael's loud outburst.

"SAAAM!...He'll be on in a second."

"Yeah…thanks," Veronica said sarcastically. Michael didn't respond or say anything else. The phone line was silent until Sam's bubbly voice answered.

"What has you in such a happy mood?" Veronica questioned.

"I'm just happy you called. What's up?"

"Why are you happy I called?"

"I don't know, I just like talking to you. So when are you coming over next? I need to get revenge on you. You can't kill my monopoly family and get away with it!"

"Um, can I come over now? Kirby's over and I really don't want to sleep under the same roof as him. I also have something to tell you that I don't want him or my mom to overhear. Plus, I need to talk to David."

"Why David?"

"I just…need to ask him about something."

"..Okay, do you want Michael to come and pick you up?"

"He didn't sound very…" Veronica trailed off as she heard a door open on Sam's line. There were some booted footsteps with a deep chuckle.

"You talking to your girly?" A man's voice asked.

"Buzz off David! Why are you here?"

"Tell her I like her shitty aim. Is she coming over?"

"I said get away! Michael's down in the basement."

"I want to know if Little V's coming over," David said in a more serious voice. Sam was silent. Veronica heard something like a flick and a small "ow" murmured by Sam.

"She's not coming over! Geez, get away from me now."

Veronica panicked, "Wait Sam! Ask him if he can give me a ride! I really don't want to spend the night here with Kirby."

"I'll come over there," Sam suggested.

"It's not the same!"

Veronica heard some struggling instead of an answer, then David's spoke with some muffled shrieks coming from the background. "I'll be more than happy to bring you over."

"Thanks! Are…are you strangling Sam?"

David snorted, "No, I just shoved a kitchen towel in his mouth and put him in a headlock. Just showing some _brotherly love_," and then hung up.

"O-okay," Veronica stuttered to herself. She hung up the phone then grabbed her bag she just picked up from Sam's house. Luckily, she didn't have to pack much except some clean underwear. Now came the hard part, getting permission from both her mom _and_ Kirby.

"Hey mom? One of Michael's friends are coming over to pick me up so I can spend the night at Sam's. Is that okay?" Veronica stopped on the last step and hung on to the railing as she teetered on the edge. Her mom and Kirby were on the couch watching TV.

Her mom swung her head around to face her, "Is it Marko?"

"No Mom," Veronica sighed, "it's David."

"Who's this Marko?" Kirby grunted, not taking his eyes off the TV.

"No one; have I met this David before?"

"No, and you don't need to. He's just going to wait out in the driveway."

"I don't need to?" Her mom vilely laughed. "How old is he? Is he trust worthy? How does he know Michael? I'm not going to let my daughter go off with some kid. I like Michael, but Max warned me about his friends."

"Come on Mom," she whined. "He's cool, I just don't want you to embarrass me."

"I'll think about it."

"But he's going to be here any minute!"

"Veronica!" Kirby yelled. "We'll meet this guy and see if we want you going off with him. Now go back to your room; we're trying to watch something here."

Veronica stayed on the step for a few more seconds, but when Kirby looked over his shoulder at her she flew up the stairs. Just after she flopped on her bed she heard a motorcycle rumble up their driveway. Maybe tonight would be the night that Kirby got what he deserved and Veronica and her mom would finally be free.

* * *

Someone has reminded me about Nanook a while ago and it's kind of been bothering me that I've completely left him out. Well, he's there. Eating, pooping, sleeping, humping someone's leg. You know…doing normal dog stuffs.


	14. Chapter 14

"Hello!"

"Are you David? There's no way. No. She's not going."

"Kirby, you didn't even give him a chance."

"He's on a bike Cameron! Tell him no then close the door."

"I'm not going to tell him no! Come on in."

"You walk into this house boy and I'll ring your neck."

"Kirby!"

"Just get me Veronica," David finally said in a soft, deadly voice. He had been standing on the front porch with his bike running behind him, waiting for their conversation to be over.

Kirby pushed Cameron aside and leaned out the door toward David. "She's not here right now." Then he slammed the door.

David raised one eyebrow, thought about busting open the door, then decided it would probably be best to do something more rational. He decided to steal the child.

Veronica had changed into her Guns n' Roses pajamas and was on her bed lying down on her stomach crying. She overheard Kirby's rudeness to David and the door slam. David's bike drove off into the distance and she lost all hope. Maybe David wasn't really a vampire after all and the Frog Brothers were just a bunch of crappy storytellers. Veronica sniffed and reached out for her Count Chocula plushie and rubbed her face into his cloak.

_Tink_

Veronica looked up and wiped her eyes. Assuming it was just the house creaking, she went back to her Count.

_Tink_

This time when she looked she sniffed and sat up, waiting for it to sound again.

_Tink_

Veronica slid off her bed and opened her bedroom door. There was nothing there so she went to her closet.

_Thump_

This time she knew for sure it had come from the direction of her only window. She pushed the curtains aside and had her hands on the blinds when a shadow of fear poured over her. Anything could be down there.

"I can see your silhouette, open the window."

Veronica smiled, she knew that voice; it was David! She zipped the blinds up and threw her Count Chocula back on her bed before opening the window.

"I knew you'd find some way to save me!"

"Shush, not so loud. I don't want Kirby to find out I'm kidnapping you."

"You'd really do that for me?"

"Shut up and just jump!"

"Will you catch me?"

"No, I'm planning on letting you fall to your death." David said without a sarcastic grin or snort.

Veronica grabbed her bag and took the screen out of her window. She let her bag go first, and David caught it. He lightly placed it on the ground and looked back up to her.

"You promise you'll catch me?" She asked, just to be on the safe side.

"I don't make promises."

Veronica sighed and was tempted to ask him why he was so difficult. She flipped off her lights, debated on grabbing Count Chocula, went to the window, went back to her bed to grab the Count, then dove feet first out her window. She slammed her eyes shut, but it was pointless since it only took a second for her to fall into David's arms.

"You do realize you were only a few feet off the ground, right?"

Veronica could feel the rumble of his words and smell his musky scent. "…Yeah."

"What's with the Count Chocula plushie?"

"...Nothing."

David made a sound between a sigh and a chuckle. He picked up her bag and carried her down the street. As he was holding her, Veronica had a sudden feeling of sadness wash over her. Not a heart aching sadness, but a melancholy one. Before, she couldn't quite figure out what drew her to David, but now it hit her. It had nothing to do with his looks and the fact that he _might_ be a vampire (though that did play a major part), it was because-

"Get on," David commanded as they walked up to his bike that was a block away. He had placed her down next to it and got on it himself. With two tries she got on the back and placed her bag between her and David. He put up the kick stand and pushed off to start the bike rolling down the street until he was another block away. Figuring they were a safe distance away from the house, he started it and they sped off towards Sam's house.

* * *

**I know it's short, but expect another update rather soon.**

**Thanks for reviewing:**

lost boys luvr; CreepyFacedSmile; SkittleMachine; N3ko8; Pandora4977; DreamQueen96 (aka 3DreamQueen3); and everyone who reviewed my last chapter!

**DreamQueen96:** Did you get your little shout out? ;D


	15. Chapter 15

Michael, Sam, Veronica, and David were sitting in the living room with Lucy and Max working at the video store. David was sneering at the TV screen, while Michael sullenly watched it. After Sam was done harassing Veronica about her Count Dracula plushie, he kept questioning her about what she had to tell him. She refused because she wanted to wait until David was gone. A commercial for Aqua Net Mousse came on when the front door opened. They all turned to look except David.

"Star!" Michael shot up out of his seat and looked at her, almost disbelieving what he was seeing. "Where have you been?!"

"Oh Michael I'm so sorry!" She cried as she ran into the house and flung herself onto Michael. Both Sam and Veronica went quiet and watched the scene with big eyes.

"S-star, where…oh my…I thought you left me!" He wrapped his hand into her hair and hugged her so tightly Veronica wondered if she could even breathe.

"I didn't leave you Michael! I would never, ever leave you."

David stood up and started clapping in a loud, slow rhythmic manner. He walked a few steps towards the happy couple with a Cheshire Cat grin on his face. "Nice acting Star. Maybe you should become an actress."

The two released each other, but Star kept her arm around him as she walked behind Michael and looked at David around his shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" Michael asked.

David's grin disappeared. "Veronica, Sam, go upstairs. Better yet, go to your little buddy's house. What's his name…Tommy. Yeah I think that's it."

Now Michael demanded. "David, I'm talking to you."

David sighed with a half-grin, "Why don't you ask where Star's been at for the last few days?"

"I was locked up in your cave!" Star snarled from behind her boyfriend.

"What?" Michael glared at David, waiting for a response.

"Sam and Veronica, go upstairs. Now." David waited for the two to run up the stairs. He knew they were listening from the shadows, but David reckoned that Veronica was going to find out sooner or later. "Star isn't as trustworthy as you think. The girl just can't keep her legs together."

"Watch it David," Michael growled.

He shrugged, "It's just the truth. She couldn't decide who she loved, so she chose us both."

"No I didn't Michael! He seduced me."

"Star?" Michael gently pulled her to the front so he could look at her. "What do you mean he seduced you? Did you…you didn't sleep with him, did you?"

"More than once," David added.

"Stop it David, let me talk to Michael alone. Can you please go home?" She pleaded to David.

"I think Michael needs me here, to make sure he doesn't do something he'll regret later."

"No he doesn't David, now go home!"

"Star…" Michael whispered, "do you still love him?"

She hesitated. "I…no."

Michael nodded slowly, looking at the ground trying to decide what to do.

"You know what I would do if I were you Michael?" David suggested.

"Shut up David!" Star hissed. "Just. Go."

"No David, stay. Star…I want you to go."

She paused, but her eyes grew big and tears were threatening to spill over. "What did you say?"

"I…I want you to…to go. Just…leave."

David sat back down and propped his feet up on the coffee table. "Where am I supposed to go?" Star questioned.

"I honestly don't care Star," his voice grew louder and angrier. "I just want you out of this house!"

"Michael you don't mean that! I have no where to go!"

"Leave Santa Carla! You're not welcome here anymore!" He hissed, "If David wants you then he can have you, but he'd be stupid to take you back."

"Michael! I…I didn't mean to! Why are you so upset with me? It was an accident and I'm sorry about it. David should be the one to blame."

"Stop it Star, he made me realize your true colors. It's my own fault, but I was so in love with you. I didn't think David cared about you like I did. And now I'm sorry, because you two deserve each other." Michael flew his hands up in the air and walked out the back door with both Star and David staring at him with a shocked look.

"I probably should have thought this out more. Now he's pissed at me." David mumbled to himself.

"How could you do this to me?" Star turned her attention to him.

He laughed, "Me? You did this to yourself. You should probably pack your things and get out before Michael decides to take something sharp to them then light them on fire."

"I don't have anywhere to go."

"Well," he exhaled loudly as he stood up and headed towards the door, "that's not my problem!" He quickly exited and went tearing off back to the cave. Star left after him and headed towards the video store.

"Well that was certainly…dramatic." Sam said. He looked over and saw Veronica sniff back a few tears.

"I'm going to miss Star," she whispered as she clutched her Count plushie closer to her chest. "Why doesn't anything go right Sam? Why can't life be easy? I thought Kirby was gone for good, then my mom goes and brings him back. She won't even believe me when I try to show her how he's not a good man. Now Star's gone and I really liked her! Michael will never be the same and I probably won't get to see David anymore." She shoved her head down into the Count and started sobbing.

"Oh geez, don't cry." Sam awkwardly patted her back and thought about giving her a hug. When he was about to wrap his arms around her she shot up and ran into the nearest bathroom, locking the door behind her.

()()()()()

Max looked at her with controlled anger after she finished her story. "You have to leave Star. You know how I feel about whores." "I'm not a whore!

"You've hurt my son and my step-son. I forgave you for betraying David because I didn't want you to be with him anyway. But not Michael; you made him happy. I used to love you as a daughter, but you've gone too far. You're not welcome in this family anymore. I want you to leave and take everything with you so as not to leave behind any memories."

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

lost boys luvr; N3ko8; DreamQueen96; Pandora4977

So I have 94 reviews, which is six away from 100! 100 is a magic number ;) hehehe...


	16. Chapter 16

**Yay for half days! They give me time to update~**

* * *

Later that night Lucy came home and Sam caught her up on all that happened. She was finally able to get Veronica out of the bathroom with the promise of hot chocolate. Veronica didn't say much, except to ask if she could take a warm bath before going to bed.

"Sure sweetie, anything you like." When Veronica was out of ear shot, Lucy turned to her son. "Make sure she comes out of the bathroom again. I have to go speak to Max."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she's okay."

Lucy smiled at her worried son and thought about how grown up he looked just then. It saddened her to think of him being a vampire and having his innocence replaced with violence. Her thoughts snapped back to David-something had to be done about that boy. She headed to her car and quickly made her way to the video store. She blessed her good luck that the store was empty so she was able to speak with Max right away.

"I already know," he stated before Lucy could get in a word. "I've talked to Star and I'm going to talk to David tomorrow."

"You need to talk to him now."

"I'm going to give him a night to cool down."

"From what Sam told me, he wasn't the one that was angry. He was 'cool as a cucumber'."

Max looked up at her and smiled at her use of teenage slang. "You amuse me so much sometimes."

"Max! This is serious."

"Yes, yes it is," he purred as he slipped around the counter coming closer to her.

"My son's heart has just been broken-"

"And he'll learn to move on. Right now he probably just wants to be alone and not have his mother hound him about Star. I can help you get your mind off of it for a while...if you'd like."

"M-Max," Lucy's face flushed red as he wrapped his arms around her and leaned his face closer to hers. "Maria," she whispered, looking over his shoulder.

"Sorry! Don't mean to be a buzz kill," Maria giggled as she quickly finished putting recently returned tapes back in their appropriate spots. "Can I take the rest of the night off so you and your lady can boogie all night long?" She giggled louder this time as she place Saturday Night Fever on the shelf.

"That depends, are you going to 'boogie all night long' with Paul if I let you go?" Max asked.

"What do you think?" She replied suggestively, inching closer to the door.

Max sighed, "That boy is bad news."

"Yeah yeah yeah, I've heard your speech before. I'll see you later alligator!"

"Oh, Maria!"

"Yeah?"

"Stay away from David for the night. He's not going to be in the best of moods."

()()()()()

Veronica made it out of the bathroom again, fresh, clear-headed, and ready for bed. She started heading to the guest room that had now become her second bedroom, but Sam called her into his room. She came in and noticed a sleeping bag on the floor and Sam's bed was made.

"You can sleep in my bed tonight and I'll take the floor."

"I thought I was in the guest bedroom?"

"I don't feel safe leaving you alone. You never know, you might go crazy and lock yourself in the room and start writing things on the walls with your blood." He laughed feebly at his joke.

Veronica started chewing the side of her mouth as she answered, "Couldn't I do the same thing in here, only use _your_ blood?"

"I supposed, but I don't think you have the heart to kill me. Hey, what was that thing you wanted to tell me about?" He sat cross-legged on the sleeping bag and looked up at her. Veronica closed the door and sat down across from him, still hugging her Count Chocula plushie.

"Max isn't home?" She asked in a whisper.

"Nope, I don't think anyone's home." Suddenly, it dawned on him. "Nobody's home. Dwayne's been watching Laddie, Michael ran out, and Mom went to go talk to Max. Nobody's home! After you tell me this deep dark secret, wanna trash the house and raid the fridge?" He smiled, trying to pull Veronica out of her slump.

"No, I don't think you'll feel like doing that after I tell you this. The Frog Brother's weren't lying about _Zapper Center_. A fire really did happen and there were rumors about vampires. I think David and them are real actual vampires."

Sam's smile disappeared. "I…I don't think you know what you're talking about. Vampire's are not real."

"I think you've been keeping this a secret from me, and I want to know why."

Sam inhaled sharply, "They're not real Veronica. Now leave it alone."

"Why are you getting irritated? I'm right, aren't I? David's a vampire!" Her voice started getting higher and she could feel her heart pick up pace. "Oh my gosh, he's a vampire, isn't he! You're not answering me, so I must be right! What about Max? Is he a vampire? Is Laddie? Are _you_ a vampire?"

"Veronica…why don't you go to bed? Too many things have happened to you tonight." He got up and headed for the light switch. "Good night."

"Sam, I ran away from home." He paused with his leg in the air. She continued, "David helped me. I wasn't planning on it, but Kirby wouldn't let David bring me over, so he stole me and my mom doesn't know I'm not home. That's basically me running away, right?"

"What's Kirby going to do if he finds out?" Sam asked as he slowly came back and sat down in his original position.

"He'll probably attempt to kill David."


	17. Chapter 17

By morning Veronica had gotten the news out of Sam. David, Paul, Dwayne, Marko, and Max were vampires. Laddie was half, and what surprised her most was Michael and Star also being vampires. Lucy was on her way to becoming one, and so was Sam. She didn't mention much on that topic; he didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it anyway. All night she couldn't shut off her brain to sleep, and now she felt like a zombie as she sat down to a bowl of cereal Lucy poured. As of now, no one but Sam knew that she knew.

"Thanks," Veronica yawned as Sam threw her a spoon. Max was already upstairs asleep and Lucy went to join him. None of them knew if Michael was back, and none of them was very willing to go down to the basement and see.

"I don't hear him snoring, so I don't think he's home." Sam said with a mouthful of Wheaties.

"Why don't you go down there and look?"

"You've never seen Michael cry, he looks pretty pathetic and gives off vibes of awkwardness and depression. I'd like to avoid that all together."

"All you'd have to do is just sneak down there and take a peak."

"Alright Miss Adventure, why don't you go and do that then?"

Veronica paused, "Maybe I will." She scooted her chair back and headed for the basement door. Her hand started to tremble on the knob. "He's not going to throw anything at me or try to eat me, will he?"

Sam had a deadpan look on his face, "Has he ever tried to eat you before you knew?"

"Well, I mean, he's just had his heart broken so he might not care anymore…never mind." She opened the door and started quietly down the steps. She reached the bottom and looked slightly to her left. From the dim light she could make out a ball on a queen sized bed.

"H-hi Michael, a-are you okay?"

"Go away," he moaned.

"Oh, okay." She ran back up the stairs and closed the door. "Yeah, he's home."

They finished their breakfast and dressed for the day. "What are you doing for the Fourth of July?" Sam asked as they met up on the living room couch.

"Probably living in my room. I know I'm going to be grounded for life." Veronica's stomache suddenly felt queasy as she remembered last night.

"Eh, Kirby just might go after David and end up dead. There's always hope." Sam flipped on the TV and started channel surfing, when the phone rang. They both looked at each other and froze.

"You don't think?" She whispered.

"Naw, couldn't be. When do you usually wake up at home?"

"Two hours ago…"

"I'll get it," Sam offered. He ran to the phone in the kitchen and answered with a hello.

Veronica's mom's voice quickly spewed out words into Sam's ear. "Sam? Where's your mother? Never mind, is Veronica over there? She's not here. I think she ran away? Put your mother on the phone! Or Max! Or David! Is David over there? Did she go off with him?"

"Uh…David did it." Sam managed to say. Veronica slapped her hand to her forehead. She came up next to him and listened in to her mother's wailings.

"So is she there? Tell her I'm sorry and that I tried to let Kirby let her go. I didn't mean to be a terrible mother. Please tell me she's there! I'm panicking right now and have Kirby out looking for her. Well, he'll start looking for her soon. As soon as he gets off the couch. Is she there?"

"Give me the phone," Veronica whispered. He passed off the phone, looking as confused as ever. "Hey mom."

"Sweetie?! Veronica! Oh dear, where are you? How long have you been gone? Where did you sleep last night? How did you get over there?"

"I'm obviously at Sam's house, I've been here since last night, I slept in Sam's bed, and I walked over here."

"At night?!"

"Yes Mom, I walked here at night. Nothing happened to me, but I don't know when I'm coming home."

"Now."

Veronica took in a deep breath, "I can't. Not with Kirby there."

Her mom finally paused and took in a breath also. "I think you need to come home tonight. We can talk about it then."

"I told you I can't."

"Veronica, that wasn't a choice. Come home before dinner and we'll talk about it over pizza, okay?"

"Will Kirby be there?"

"Just come home."

"Mom?"

"…"

"Mom!"

"He's moving in."

Veronica's mouth hung open and tears flew down her face. She tried to think of something to say, but couldn't. So she slammed the phone down and attempted to run to the bathroom again, but Sam was too quick and pinned her against the wall.

"What? What happened? Are you staying here or going home?"

"She's letting that pervert live with us!"

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing chapter 15 (I don't know how I forgot this last chapter):**

lost boys luvr; Byrneshadow (sorry it took so long for revenge); N3ko8; SkittleMachine; DreamQueen96; tomieharley; my guests: NoDoubt96; maroochie

**Thanks for reviewing chapter 16!**

DreamQueen96; SkittleMachine; tomieharley; Kagome Narome; Pandora4977; and my lovely guest: StrangeGirl21 (sorry for creeping you out with old people love lol!)


	18. Chapter 18

Happy Halloween! For my favorite holiday you guys get a special chapter! It mainly deals with David and Max and stuff gets serious. You'll see a little of Max's back story, too, if you're sharp.

* * *

"David?" Max called as he entered that cave that night.

"Hey Hot Stuff!" Paul called. "Maria told me about you and your future wifey last night!"

"Oh shut up!" David yelled from somewhere back in the cave. He came out and glared at Max. "I would prefer if you didn't have a sex life."

Max didn't say anything sarcastic back. "I need to talk to you about Star."

David's smirk disappeared. "Look, I was just toying with her emotions." He turned to Paul, who was watching them. David raised an eyebrow and Paul shrugged in response. "Go join Dwayne and Laddie on the Boardwalk!" He finally yelled.

"Yeesh, no need to get your boxer-briefs in a knot." Paul huffed as he pulled his way out of the cave. Max and David were alone.

"I have a feeling this is going to be a long lecture." David sighed as he sat down on a dusty couch and offered the seat across from him.

"I'd rather stand," Max sniffed. "I want you to stay away from the house. I don't need you and Michael getting in a fight in front of Veronica."

"Doesn't she have a home?"

"There's a situation and she'll be staying with us for a while. That reminds me, leave her alone if you ever see her out of my house."

"But I thought you wanted a daughter? Now that Star's gone, Little V can fill her place." David suggested with a little bit of a sting.

"I won't take Cameron's daughter away from her, and you know that."

"You're taking Sam's mother away from him." He countered with a lethal smirk forming.

Rage flowed through Max's eyes. "I am not. He'll be living with her and he has the choice to become a part of the family. This isn't about me anyways, this is about you! You've managed to destroy a part of this family."

"I didn't want Star as a sister anyway."

"I wanted her as a daughter and her and Michael worked well together. I wanted to see my son happy and start a family and live like normal humans. Vampires can have the American Dream you know. They all don't have to live in caves!" His voice echoed with anger.

David snorted and responded with bitter sarcasm. "Well excuse me, I forgot that you didn't start off in a cave similar to mine, that you weren't part of a murderous gang back in the 1800's, that you weren't involved in a destructive greaser gang, and that you don't have anything to do with the mafia. Oh, and I also forgot that I'm totally not your fucking blood related son!" Suddenly the atmosphere changed, the two shifted and were at each other's throats.

"You're a spoiled piece of shit David!"

"You killed my mother!"

"She cheated on me!"

"Michael means more to you than I do and you haven't even married Lucy yet."

"You'd better stay away from Lucy! I brought you into this world and I can take you out."

"You don't have the balls to kill me _Father_."

Max stopped the struggle by throwing David across the cave. "I would never kill you David," he said in between gasps of air.

David sat up and wiped blood from his mouth. He shifted back into his human form and didn't respond. Max shifted also and finally sat down on the couch.

A few minutes went by in silence. Finally David spoke up, "Do you want a beer?"

"Sure. Are you still going to be my best man at my wedding?"

"You know you can't get me into a tuxedo."

"I'm taking that as a yes. Thanks," he took the cold beer from David and waited for him to sit down across from him. "What are you and the boys doing this year for the Fourth of July? It's coming up next week."

"Blow shit up."

"Alright, just try not to kill anyone this year. I have a feeling Veronica will be with us."

"What's her situation? Is it that Kirby guy?"

"You know about him?"

"I just know she doesn't like him."

"He's moving in and Veronica refuses to go home now. I don't know exactly what he did to her, but it can't be good."

"Do you want me to take care of him?" David raised an eyebrow.

"No, not yet. I have to figure out what's going on first. I don't want Cameron to get scared."

"Marko can take care of her."

"David!"

"What! It's about time he settles down. I can't help it he likes older women."

"Oh…wait, what? Ew."

"I know, that's what I said." David laughed.

()()()()()

"Aw, did you get kicked out of the cave again?" Marko mocked as Paul came up to the other boys with a pout on his face.

"Yes. They're having their annual fight."

"So soon in the year?" Dwayne mused. "Their fights are usually in December."

"I think David started it early this year with that Star thing he pulled." Paul said. He eyed Laddie's elephant ear. "Wanna share that with me twerp?"

"Bite me," he hissed.

"Dang Dwayne! What are you teaching our son!"

"He's not _our _son you freak."

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

lost boys luvr; N3ko8; DreamQueen96; SkittleMachine; Kagome Narome; Charly L. Horton; and my three lovely guests: C.F.S; Lunatic; SaffiBlu


	19. Chapter 19

**The day before 4****th**** of July.**

"So how long will you be eating our food?" Sam watched Veronica pick apart her toast. She didn't respond so he tried another tactic. "The Frog Brother's have been asking after you. I think you may have attracted Allen's attention instead of Edgar's."

Veronica shrugged. "I'd prefer neither. Are they really trying to kill David and the others? What about Michael?"

"They've agreed to leave Michael and my mom alone, but as for the others…yes."

"Even Star?"

"I don't know. I don't think they'll be able to find her. No one knows where she's at right now."

"Oh." She went back to picking at her toast. Lucy walked into the kitchen in her pajamas.

"Can't sleep?" Sam asked.

"What do you mean? It's eleven in the morning, this is my normal time to wake up." She looked at her son oddly, then opened the fridge. "Hey, didn't I just buy milk? And where did all the eggs go?"

"I've no idea." Sam took Veronica's pile of crumbs away hoping to spur some emotion from her. She just let him take her toast.

"Well, looks like I have to run up to the store again. Veronica, how are we on bread?"

She folded her arms on the table and plopped her head down on them. "Fine."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Just dandy."

"You're not running a fever, are you?" Lucy came over to her and felt her forehead. "Maybe you should go home. Your mom's been calling twice a day, every day wondering if you'll be home for fireworks tomorrow."

"I was planning on going with you guys," Veronica replied, sounding muffled since she didn't bother to pick her head up.

"At least call her, dear." Lucy sighed with concern. She wished Max would let her do something. She felt as if her world were slowly falling apart. There were times when she wished she would have never moved to Santa Carla.

"Mom?" Sam brought her out of her thoughts.

"Yes dear?"

"Can you get some chocolate cereal? These Wheaties suck."

"Language please."

"The Wheaties taste like poop."

Lucy sighed at her son. Then there were times when she wished she would have left her children behind and came to Santa Carla on her own. She laughed inwardly; her old wild-child self still appeared from time-to-time.

()()()()()

"Will David be there tomorrow night?" Veronica asked Sam. They were up in his tree house looking through comics and watching the sun set.

"Are you going to ask him to kill Kirby?"

"I don't know. I'm just wondering if I'll get to see him."

"Probably, the guys tend to enjoy fourth of July since they get to explode things. Hey, don't go acting all funny now that you know about them."

"I won't." She hid her smile behind her comic. Little did Sam know that while he was thinking she was depressed all day, she was actually day dreaming about her hunky vampire boyfriend. It was easier thinking about David then her mom. Every time she thought about her, she wanted to cry. But with David, all she could think about was…him.

"What's so funny?" Sam caught her smile and peered at the comic in front of her. Nothing exceptionally funny popped out to him.

"Nothing. Mind your own beeswax."

"Do bees have ears?"

Veronica looked at him like he was stupid. "Oh course they do. Every living thing has ears. Moron," she whispered under her breath.

"Jellyfish don't have ears. Moron," he copied her whisper back.

"Jellyfish are sea creatures."

"Yeah, but they're living."

Veronica was about to start a petty argument when the glorious sound of motorcycles came into her ears. To be exact, _four_ glorious motorcycles. Her eyes grew big, "What are they doing here?" She peeked out the tree house and noticed she missed the sun set.

"Aw crap," Sam began to climb the ladder down to the ground. "They usually spend the night on the Eve of Fourth of July. I didn't think they'd do that this year."

"Why do they spend the night?" Veronica climbed down after him.

"Because it's free food and they're fat asses."

"Vampires eat human food?'

"Shhh! Not so loud! No one else knows that you know." He reprimanded her when she jumped down next to him. "And yes they can. You've seen Michael and Star eat."

"Oh yeah!" The two headed into the kitchen through the backdoor.

"David?" Lucy's surprised voice rang into the kitchen.

"Yeah?" He responded irritably, like it wasn't obvious why he was here.

"David, do you really find this to be a good idea?" Max came down from upstairs dressed for work, but his voice had a warning tone to it.

David ignored him and walked into the kitchen. Laddie and the other three stayed in the living room close to the door without saying a word. David didn't look at Sam or Veronica and instead opened the refrigerator. After a while he looked at Lucy with a slight hint of surprise on his face. "Where's all the meat?"

Lucy furrowed her brows together in confusion. "There was some turkey in there."

David shuffled through the fridge and threw out two empty containers. "Nope. What's up with all the empty packages?"

"I…I don't know." Lucy came up and took David's place in the fridge. He walked over to the phone and looked at the guys.

"Pizza?"

"Depends, is Max buying?" Paul meekly asked, still not sure if it was safe to be here.

Max glared at David, and David glared back. This continued for sometime, until Max gave up with a sigh. "I have a feeling I have no choice in the matter."

"I want black olives," Dwayne said as he flopped down in a chair. The other made themselves comfortable, too. "Little Lad, what do you want?"

"Pepperoni!" He smiled as he ran up to Dwayne and sat on his lap.

David turned to Sam and Veronica and raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"I'm not hungry." Sam almost snarled at him. David stared at him with an emotionless look.

"I'll have whatever you're having," Veronica quietly answered. David was still staring at Sam.

"What?!" Sam snapped.

"So you're the fatty that ate all the food." David squinted his eyes at his 'little brother' then quickly dialed for the pizza.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

Kagome Narome; Byrneshadow; N3ko8; Charly L. Horton; tomieharley; and my guest C.F.S


	20. Chapter 20

Veronica was stuck eating her pizza with everything on it. Sam wasn't lying when he said they ate like fat people. They ended up with six large pizzas split between the four of them and Veronica. Laddie had his own mini pizza, Lucy and Max went to work without eating, Michael never appeared, and Sam ended up eating graham crackers and peanut butter. Veronica took two pieces and the rest was devoured by the vampires. The only things that were left were Veronica's two crusts, green peppers, pineapple, and black olives she refused to eat. Dwayne asked for the olives, Marko secretly took her pineapple, David stole her peppers, and Paul was eyeing her crust.

"Just take it." She finally said after she grew tired of him eyeballing her plate.

"You're the best Little V!" He smiled as he snatched the last two remaining food items from her.

"I'm tired," Sam suddenly said. "I'm going to bed. Veronica, you coming?"

"Nah, I stay down here for a while." She wasn't looking at Sam when she responded, but she could feel his eyes boring holes into the back of her head.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive! Night Sam."

"Night Sammy Wammy," Paul cooed.

"Shut it pot head." Sam stormed up the stairs and slammed his door shut.

"Well somebody's PMS-ing. Hey, where's Micha-"

"Shush," Dwayne whispered to the dumb blonde. "How did you like your pizza, Little V?"

David ignored Dwayne's attempt to change the subject. "We're not supposed to interrupt Michael in his _grieving _process." Then a little louder he said, "The loser needs time to cry about his whore."

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Dwayne had an angry look on his face, but quickly looked over to Veronica. "Maybe if Leatherman's going to be an ass tonight, it would be best if you headed to bed."

"No no, I want her to stay so we can find out why she's here and not at home. Don't worry about Michael, he's not going to come up from his little basement of depression anytime soon." David paused and looked towards the kitchen. He sighed and continued, "So why are you mooching off Max?"

Suddenly Veronica wished she would have went with Sam. She wanted David to kill Kirby, but she didn't want to have to talk about him, especially in front of all the boys. "I just got in a fight with my mom."

David squinted at her, "You sure it's not that Kirby prick? He seemed like a jerk when he slammed the door in my face."

"Well…that's what the fight was about."

Paul exclaimed in a high pitched voice, "Drama!" David looked at him with a scowl, then kicked him in the thigh.

"Continue Little V," Marko urged while making sure David and Paul didn't go at it.

"Well…it's just…I don't like him. He's mean, and he's nasty, and he's gross, and he's ugly, and he's-"

David paused her descriptive list. "I already know all that. Why are you really here?"

"She's letting him move in!" Veronica's mouth turned down on the edges and to her horror, she felt tears well up. She would die if they saw her cry. "I want him gone, but she lets him move in. It's not fair."

"Oh geez V," Marko straightened up more and felt the urge to go over there and hug the crap out of her. "Don't cry! We can help!"

Veronica brought her knees up and hid her face before tears began to fall. "Can you kill him for me?" She sniffed. The boys were silent, and she began to lose hope.

"We'll see what we can do. It'll have to pass by Max first." David said. She looked up and saw the other three glaring at David. "What?"

"Be careful what you say," Dwayne mumbled under his breath.

"I think we should tell her."

"I think we shouldn't." Paul countered.

"Tell me what?"

"Hey Little V, why don't you go to bed now? We'll see you tomorrow." Dwayne turned away from David and gave a soft smile to her.

"I think me and Sam were going to the fair tomorrow. We won't be back until later, so you should tell me whatever you have to tell me now."

Dwayne ignored her last comment and laughed, "Even better! We'll see you tomorrow night then!"

"Night Little V!" Paul and Marko cried in unison as she reluctantly made her way up to Sam's bedroom. David didn't say anything.

()()()()()

"Hehe, I like that part, too! What other Disney movie is your favorite?"

"Laddie?" Dwayne came down from upstairs. He heard Laddie laughing and talking and figured Paul was up, but Laddie was alone. The sun was just about to go down, so Dwayne ventured further down into the living room. "Laddie, who were you talking to?"

"No one, why?"

"I heard you-" Dwayne sniffed the air. "Laddie, come back to bed with me."

"Why?"

"Because it smells like skank down here."

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

N3ko8; SkittleMachine; tomieharley; kagome narome; Ann Winters; and my guests: Lunatic; C.F.S; SaffiBlu


	21. Chapter 21

Okay, so it's the totally wrong holiday for this story, but if you live in America: Happy Thanksgiving! Hehe, since it's a holiday I've included a little mini-fluff scene with my favorite pairing: Paul and Maria! Them together just makes me so happy! (Since we're on this topic, if you've ever read any good fics with them, please tell me. My searches have come up empty.)

* * *

**Night of 4****th**** of July**

Nobody was successful at getting Michael out of the house. David had ventured down there (against Max's wishes) but only had a pillow thrown at his head. Night had fallen and everyone except Paul and David were in the park setting up a blanket and food for the firework show. Laddie was off playing on a swing set with Dwayne never too far away, always making sure Laddie was alone. Sam and Veronica were picking on each other and running around the park throwing twigs and other small objects. Lucy called for them before they hurt themselves.

"Aw come on Mom, we were just playing." Sam whined.

"I don't care. Max? Is Maria joining us? I need to know if I need to set out another plate."

"Yeah," he responded while unfolding another blanket, "we're going to need two extra plates, actually. David's bringing his new girlfriend, too."

Veronica froze in her place and felt her world stop turning. "Since when did David have a girlfriend?" She said in a raspy voice to herself, but Sam picked up on it.

"That's news to me. She probably won't last very long…if you know what I'm hinting at."

"Well good. She probably deserves to have her blood sucked from her veins." She pouted.

"Uuh, this is a new side to Veronica that I've never seen before."

"She doesn't deserve him."

"Aw, is someone jealous? You know you don't have a chance with him, right?"

"Are you jealous that I like a vampire better than you?"

"Shush! Would keep quiet about knowing? I wasn't supposed to tell you."

"David almost told me last night, but the others didn't let him." Just then Paul and David rode up on their bikes. "I wonder if David would take me for a ride?"

"I'm pretty sure he's a little busy." Sam eyed the girl behind David. She wasn't giving off a special vibe like Star did, so he knew he wouldn't be seeing her as a vampire. As for her looks, well she didn't get hit with the ugly stick. "Why do they always get the pretty ones?" Sam murmured to himself.

"Hey Maxie!" Maria called as she hopped off behind Paul.

"Isn't he her boss?" Veronica whispered to Sam.

"Yeah, but she never acts like he is."

Paul slid off his bike and put his arm around Maria. They strolled over to the blankets and joined Marko and Dwayne. Paul ended up plopping down and pulling Maria onto his lap. He nuzzled into her hair.

"Keep it PG please," Max sighed. "I'd like to enjoy my night.

"I'm sorry, but she's just so fluffy!" Paul's muffled call made everyone roll their eyes.

"Why are you into weird guys?" David asked as he helped his new flame off the back of his bike. She giggled at his touch and intertwined her hand with his. He didn't even seem to notice as he dragged her along.

"Because the weirdos tend to be pretty." She answered before blowing a piece of Paul's hair off her face.

Veronica craned her neck to get a better look at David's new beau. Suddenly, her heart felt like it would stop. "Sh-she's just a blonde bimbo!" She shrieked.

Unfortunately for Veronica's pride, David had heard her as he walked past. He looked down at the frustrated girl with an icy stare that had a glint of humor in it. "Mighty strong words coming from a shrimp like you."

Veronica's face flushed red.

David introduced the girl, "Everyone, this is Harley. Harley, this is my family." She said her greetings, but glared at Veronica.

"Looks like you made a new friend," Sam choked back his laughter.

"I bet she was a snotty cheerleader in high school."

"A hot snotty cheerleader," he ogled.

Veronica turned and snarled at him, "You're disgusting.' She walked away and joined Laddie on the swings. Dwayne seemed content with Veronica watching Laddie, so he left the two. Sam seemed like he was about to walk over, but one glare from Veronica told him to stay far far away.

"So Laddie, how's it going?" She asked as she matched Laddie's speed.

"Good."

"That's good. So anything new happening in you little mind?"

"No."

"Okay." She swung in awkward silence for a few minutes until Laddie stopped. He waited for her to slow down, then leaned over.

"I have a secret," he whispered.

"Yeah, what's that?"

"I have a friend that nobody knows about. She told me to keep it a secret."

"Oh? Who's that?"

"Ah!" Laddie suddenly shouted in her ear, then grew so excited it seemed like he would start bouncing up and down. "I forgot! I actually have two secrets! I'll tell you the other one, it's funnier."

"Okay," Veronica winced. Her ear felt like it had exploded.

"Sometimes when I'm over at Max's house, I'll hear noises in the kitchen at night when all the adults are working. So I went there one night with my pillow incase I needed to attack whatever was there, and guess what I saw?!"

"What?" Her interest began to grow.

"You gotta promise not to tell anyone."

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

Laddie paused and debated about telling. "Never mind!" He jumped off the swing and ran into Dwayne's legs and climbed unto his shoulders like he was a tree. Veronica felt her eye twitch. She felt she was so close to finding out the missing food mystery, but Laddie punked out. Maybe she would have to sleep on the couch that night to find out who was raiding the kitchen.

"Hey brat! You want to miss the fireworks or what?" David called over to her. She smiled, climbed off the swing set, and sat down in-between him and Marko. She noticed Paul was missing.

David noticed her looking and leaned over. "You don't want to know where he is." Harley noticed David's attention was off her, so she grabbed him by his shirt collar and planted a kiss on his lips. He snapped his head back and returned his attention to Veronica, whose nose was unknowingly scrunched up in disgust.

"What's the matter Little V, never been kissed before?" He laughed at her expression. Her face turned bright red and she turned away to find Sam. David went back to Harley and Veronica stood up and walked over to where Sam was. He had two plates in his hand stacked with food and nodded his head, indicating for her to follow. She didn't question and walked with him over to a park bench that was just out of sight of their group.

"Here," he handed her a plate, "you can see the fireworks even better right here. Me and Michael found that out last year."

"Thanks," she smiled. They sat down shoulder-to-shoulder when there was a loud booom. They both looked up just in time to see the start of the firework show. Bright greens, blues, reds, purples, and yellows shined in the night sky and reflected on their faces.

* * *

**A few chapters ago I wrote how my 100****th**** review would be special. And it was! My 100****th**** reviewer got a spot in my story. Only my 100****th**** reviewer didn't have their PM on, so I had to use my 101****st**** review: tomieharley! She appears as the oh-so-wonderful Harley in this chapter.**

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

SkittleMachine; Charly L. Horton; KagomeNarome; tomieharley; and my guests: C.F.S; StrangeGirl21; Lunatic; SaffiBlu (Thanks for the encouragement! Greatly appreaciated!)


	22. Chapter 22

The firework show concluded with David leaving first with Harley (who was never seen again), then Paul and Maria left (Maria was found safe and sound at work the next day, only with a few hickeys on her neck), Dwayne and Marko left, and Laddie went home with everyone else. The next afternoon Sam went to hang out with his friend Tommy while Veronica stayed at home. Growing so bored, she decided to venture down to the basement even though she knew Michael hadn't fed for a couple of days.

"H-hey Michael, do you need anything?" She whispered only managing going down a few steps. There was no response, so she took a few more. "M-Michael?"

"Yes Miss V?" He moaned. He was still curled in a ball with his face shoved down in a pillow. It smelled funky down there, but not like B.O. or anything, more like rotten food.

"I was just making sure you were still alive."

"Yeah."

"Sorry about David. I'm not positive on what a whore is, but I know it's not good and I know Star wasn't one." She went down two more steps feeling more confident.

"She wasn't and don't apologize for him."

"Sorry."

Michael uncurled himself and sat up against the wall. He moved like a depressed zombie and talked in a monotone voice that scared Veronica. She was worried his sanity was beginning to slip. They stared at each other for some time before she came down a few more steps. When she reached the bottom he blinked.

"I think you know something you shouldn't know. My brother has a rather large mouth when it comes to secrets."

Veronica put her foot back on the step and felt the need to run upstairs. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Tell me what you know, just so I don't accidentally tell you."

"Know about what?"

"About us, this whole fucked up family."

Veronica was surprised and even more scared at his use of a vulgar word. "Um, I-I don't know."

He smirked, "You know." When Veronica started to go back up his dead expression turned to one of hurt. "I'm not going to hurt you, just tell me. Max needs to know. He wants to mow the grass, but Sam won't do it because he's a little ass and Max doesn't want to freak you out mowing it in the middle of the night. And truthfully, I don't think Mom could push the mower."

Veronica bit back a smile, then turned serious again. "Yeah, Sam told me. Though I haven't seen any proof."

"You don't want to. It's not a very pleasant experience. Okay, that's all I wanted to know." He suddenly flopped face down onto the pillow and curled himself up again. Veronica took this as a sign that she was dismissed and calmly went back up the stairs. For some reason it felt good to get that off her chest. Sam would be unhappy, but everyone else didn't have to make up so many lies now.

She opened the fridge to find a snack and noticed even more food was missing. She began to get her suspicions of who it was, but before she could go back down to the basement there was a knock on the door. Opening it she saw a fidgeting Alan on Max's doorstep.

"I'm shocked."

"I'm uncomfortable. Can you come outside, I need to ask you something." Alan looked nervous and very twitchy.

"Are you about to have a seizure?" Veronica grew concerned and quickly closed the door behind her. They walked to the sidewalk together and Alan suddenly seemed to relax.

"Sorry, I just don't like standing on a vampire's doorstep. It goes against everything I know."

"So what was it that you wanted to ask me?"

"Well, Sam said he was at Tommy's today and Edgar's out with Dad so I figured you were bored and since I was bored I decided to come over and see if maybe you wanted to be bored together." He rushed his sentence and appeared nervous again.

"Sure," she shrugged, "what did you want to do?"

"Anything but hang out here."

"The Boardwalk?"

"Yeah," Alan smiled and seemed relaxed again.

"What's Edgar and your dad doing?"

"They're going to some bad parts of the city to buy some grass. Dad brings Edgar along because he can kick ass while Dad's too stoned to even know what's going on."

Veronica nodded, "Makes sense. So I know the boys are vampires and everyone knows I know."

"Welcome to the club."

"Thanks," she smiled and he smiled back. The day went by too quickly for either of them. They talked about everything from favorite music (which they had a lot in common) to vampires. The vampire thing was the only debate that got a little heated, but they agreed to disagree…for now. Luckily for Veronica, he knew to stay away from the topic of her mom. On the beach the two watched the sun set and Alan walked her home, refusing to let her risk it in the dark even though the local vampires most likely knew to keep their paws off.

"Can never be too careful with bloodsuckers." Alan informed. They reached the corner of Max's street when he stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Alan looked at the ground and seemed to get nervous yet again. But this time, he was shaking.

"Look, if you don't want to go up to the door-"

"No, it's not that."

"Then what?"

He looked up at her and within a second he closed the gap between them and lightly kissed her. He took a step back and prepared himself for a slap across the face. Instead, Veronica stared with giant eyes and her mouth hung open.

"I'll…see you…later then?" He offered. She nodded, flushed bright red, then booked it for the house. When she slammed the door behind her she noticed Max and Lucy were in the living room with Sam dialing the phone.

"Where were you?!" Lucy fretted as she came over and gently took her shoulders. "What's the matter? What happened?" She ran her hand over Veronica's face to feel for a fever.

"I've been calling everyone!" Sam hung up the phone irritably and joined Lucy. "I had to talk to you sobbing Mom for over ten minutes! All I heard was a bunch of blubbering and snotty sounds."

"Veronica?" Max asked in a calm, cool voice. "I think we need to sit down and have a talk."

"I-I-I," Veronica tried to get something out, but was still in shock.

"Hey, you okay?" Sam's anger faded and he began to grow concerned. "David or the other's didn't hurt you, did they?"

"I-I…I need to go to my room!" She stepped around Lucy and flew to the guest bedroom. Shutting the door behind her she slide under the covers and flung the comforter over her head.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

lost boys luvr; Kagome Narome; N3ko8; tomieharley (I can't wait for the story :D); mickishai2000; and my guests: Lunatic; 1379; SaffiBlu (Kaname freak right here haha!)


	23. Chapter 23

In the morning there was a knock on the door and Max walked in-making sure the blinds were closed first, of course. "Good morning Veronica."

"Good morning," she mumbled back.

He sat down on her bed and patted her leg. "What happened last night? Was it Kirby?"

Veronica's eyes grew big, "Oh no! I haven't seen him in forever."

"Then where were you last night?"

"I was hanging out with a friend."

"A _guy_ friend?"

"…I guess. I know why you're really here."

"Why's that?"

"Michael told you."

Max smiled, "Yes, he told me that Sam told you. So now you know our secret. No big deal, David was debating about telling you anyway. I just don't want you to think badly about us. You're still welcomed in our home and we would never, ever hurt you or your family."

"Kirby's not family." Veronica muttered.

"That's true." Max paused then whispered, "What did he do to you? You're such a precious little girl, you shouldn't be filled with so much hate."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright, but if you ever feel the need to tell me, I'll always be willing to listen." He smiled at her.

"Thanks," she gave a small smile back.

"I have a surprise for you!" Max suddenly stood up and clapped his hands together. "Your Mom's downstairs!"

()()()()()

"Hi," Veronica quietly said. Everyone had left them alone in the living room. This was the first time they had seen in each other face to face since the night David came over.

"Sweetheart, why are you doing this to me?"

"Why are you letting Kirby live with us?"

"Because I'm in love with him Veronica."

"He's mean and gross."

"Let's save that topic for later. How are you? Are you alright here?"

"I'm fine."

"Do you need me to bring you more clothes? You know I miss you honey. Fourth of July was terrible without you."

"No, Lucy's been doing my laundry for me. And I'm sure you and Kirby were just fine."

Her mother ignored the comment and continued, "I went to the park to see you, but I saw David and Marko there and I just couldn't go up to you."

"Why, because Kirby wouldn't have been happy?"

Her mom sighed, "Sweetie…So how have you been? Anything new happen?"

"I had my first kiss."

Her mom paused for a second. "What? Who? Oh my gosh…"

"Yeah, you missed it. Thank Kirby for that."

"Who was it? Oh, I don't know if I should be excited about this or be worried you're headed on a dangerous path."

"Because of a kiss?"

"Tell me! Tell me! Who was the lucky boy to have my daughter's first kiss?"

"Mom, calm down," Veronica giggled. Her old Mom was showing through and Veronica felt like things might just go back to normal. "You don't know him."

"It wasn't Sam, was it?"

"Haha, no. It was…Alan," Veronica blushed when she said his name.

"Oooh! Tell me all about him!" She moved onto the couch Veronica was sitting on and took her hand. "Tell me all about him. Are you in love?"

"Mom! Geez, no, it's not like that! But he's a nice guy, besides the vampire thing."

"He doesn't like vampires? Oh dear, he won't last long," she laughed.

"He's not ugly either, though his brother's a complete freak even though he's a hunk. But Alan has dark hair and chocolate brown eyes, and he sometimes gets this look on his face that is very attractive. He's taller than me, but only two years older. We get along really well, and he's really cute, though not as cute as David." Veronica's bubbly smile and laughter stopped as she slammed both hands over her mouth.

Her mom raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you think David's a stud muffin?"

"Mom!"

"Haha, it's okay, he is pretty attractive. Though that Marko guy…"

"Mother!" Veronica stared at her with a shocked horror. They stared at each other in silence then broke out into uncontrollable laughter. Once their fit was over, Veronica sighed and got to the root of the problem. "Kirby?"

"So not as hot as Marko."

"Seriously Mom, can you kick him out or what? I miss you."

"I love you Veronica, and I miss you more than you can fathom. But…he's going to be your future father."

Veronica's voice caught in her throat and her smile vanished. "W-what?" Her breathing grew unsteady and rapid.

"This is why I came over, to tell you why he's moving in. We're getting married. He loves both of us very much, and he wants you to accept him-"

Veronica shot up out of her seat, "I'll never accept him!" she screamed. "Never! Never! Never!" She took off running and didn't look back at her mom.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

Kagome Narome; mickishai2000; tomieharley; lost boys luvr (thanks for reminding me to update!); Jenni-Marie-HP (you're amazing for reviewing every chapter); EvilFalconofDoom; and my guests: Paulslostgirl; Hello13579; SaffiBlu


	24. Chapter 24

Veronica ran into the comic shop and collapsed on the floor gasping for air. "My…my mom…Kirby…"

Edgar and Alan both shot up from behind the counter, "Whoa!"

"Veronica, are you okay? Did something happen to them?" Alan got down on the ground with her and lifted her up.

"It was those vampires, wasn't it?" Edgar growled.

"No!" Veronica managed to spit out in between her gasps for air. She had run all the way over to the comic shop, not stopping even once. The brothers waited for her to calm down, but when she did, she broke out into a sob. Alan led her to the back room and held her until her sobbing turned into choked tears, and eventually soft whimpers. Edgar stayed in the front, uncomfortable with the whole crying thing.

"Now start from the beginning," Alan said when she stopped hiccupping.

"My Mom," she sniffed, "my Mom has this jerk of a boyfriend who's moving in. But she just now told me he's moving in because they're getting m-married! She can't marry him because then he would be my dad, but I don't want him as a dad! I don't want anyone as a dad because my real dad is dead!" She started crying again and Alan frowned.

"Did you tell her this?"

"I tried! She doesn't understand."

Her crying finally stopped and Alan was still there, sitting uncomfortably on the edge of the couch. "I'm sorry," she wiped her tears. "I shouldn't have come over."

"No, it's alright. I'm just so sorry about the whole Kirby thing." He paused debating something in his mind. "I'm not too keen on this, and you'd better not tell _anyone_ what I'm about to say, okay? But…maybe you should get one of your little vampire buddies to take care of him. Maybe Michael? Or Max?"

"But then I'd have to tell them the truth."

"So? You told me."

"No Alan, the real truth."

"What?"

"Nothing," she stood up and headed for the door. Just before leaving she turned around with her hand on the door knob. "You know what hurts the most? My mom came over today, but she didn't mention anything about tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?"

"My birthday." She turned the knob and left.

()()()()()

Veronica strolled around the boardwalk to clear her head, then nightfall came. That's when she heard a motorcycle pull up next to her.

"You have every single person who knows you worrying about you." David's scruffy voice remarked.

"Were you worrying?" She asked still walking. He turned off his engine and coasted next to her.

"Stray vampires come through here every once in a while."

"So you know?"

"That you know? Yes. Max tattled on Sam."

"Actually, I did."

"Well yes, but that's not the point. The point is that I got to see Max yell at him."

"Is he in serious trouble?"

"No, you were bound to find out eventually. Can you jump on the back now? I'm tired of pushing this thing."

She finally looked at him and stopped, shrugged, then finally climbed on. The bike roared back to life and they headed off in the direction of Max's home.

"You stink like hunter," David frowned.

"I was at the Frog Brother's place."

"Were you sucking lover boy's face off again?"

For what seemed like the hundredth time, Veronica's face went red. "How do you know about that?!"

"What?" David seemed generally confused. "I was just joking…"

"Oh," her red deepened. There was an awkward silence between the two.

"You're too young to kiss boys." David finally said.

"You're too old for young hussies like that Harley chick."

David broke out into laughter. "_Hussies_? Where on Earth did you learn that word? Hussies!" He snorted one last time then went back to his normal poker face. "I'm not that old little lady. Besides, I'm forever stuck at twenty-one. You'll only be eleven for a year so don't go around kissing boys. Save that for when you're older."

"Actually, I'll only be eleven for tonight."

"Your birthday's tomorrow? Why did nobody tell me this?"

"Because my own mom forgot."

"Well we'll make sure you have the best twelfth birthday ever."

The joke was almost lost on Veronica, "I only have one twelfth birt…oh wait," she giggled, "that's the point of the joke!"

David rolled his eyes the same time the bike rolled into Max's driveway. Sam busted out of the door and stormed over to Veronica.

"Two times you've gone missing on us! Two times! If this is going to become a regular thing, th-"

David cut him off by wrapping his hand over Sam's mouth and putting him in a headlock. "I got your back, Little V." He drug a squirming Sam into the house as Veronica followed behind.

"You really need to stop running off like that." Paul sighed. All the boys except Marko were in the living room along with Maria, Max, and Lucy. "You had us so worried even Michael came upstairs for a few seconds."

"Did he really?"

"Yeah, then he found out David was out looking for you and almost went himself. Max calmed him down and now he's back downstairs stinking it up. Seriously, is he keeping dead bodies down there or something?"

"Mffmmffpppffft," Sam tried to say, but David still had him in a death grip.

"David, let him go," Lucy politely asked from behind Max.

"I will when he decides to stop chewing on my hand," he glared at the struggling boy. Sam stopped and David wiped the spit onto Paul's back.

"That's gnarly man." Paul scowled at the new trail of slime down his back.

From the kitchen, Veronica finally heard Marko. "Uhg! Why isn't there any food in this house?!"

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

Jenni-Marie-HP; mickishai2000; lost boys luvr; EvilFalconofDoom; Kagome Narome; SkittleMachine; tomieharley; acelostgirl; SaffiBlackFire; and my guests: CFS; StrangeGirl21


	25. Chapter 25

Veronica could not sleep. Alan and her were closer, David told Sam about the kiss so now Sam was walking around like a kicked puppy, Max and Lucy had been filling out wedding invitations for the rest of the night, and Laddie and Paul ended up breaking a lamp horsing around. They took off like criminals and weren't seen for the rest of the night. She was staring up at the ceiling replaying Alan's kiss over and over again. It was awkward, both of their lips were extremely dry, and Alan had just about missed her lips, but she would do it again. And again, and again. Only maybe not with Alan…

She sat up in bed when she heard the sound of the refrigerator open. She quickly, yet quietly, walked across the room and sneaked towards the stairs. As silently as she could, she made it down them missing all the squeaky parts. From the kitchen doorway she could see the glow of the refrigerator. She snuck up to the edge and peeked around the corner. When she saw who it was she took a step into the middle of the doorway.

Michael was staring into the fridge with a zombie-like appearance. He leaned his head back and slowly turned to look at Veronica with his glazed-over eyes and mouth hung slightly open. "I have to pee, but I'm too hungry to care." Then he slowly moved his attention back to the fridge.

"This is about Star, isn't it?"

"No...this is about food."

Veronica nodded at his response and walked back upstairs to try to get some sleep.

()()()()()

"Happy birthday!" Lucy, Sam, and Max called when Veronica slumped her way down the stairs in the morning.

"We didn't have time to get you a supposedly 'awesome' gift like David managed to do." Sam indicated towards the pick that was still hanging around Veronica's neck ever since Marko had change it into a necklace after the concert. "But, we did get you a little something."

"The boys are supposed to come over tonight, too." Max added.

"Oh that's alright, you really don't have to plan a party or get me anything." Veronica began to inch back up the stairs.

"It's too late," Sam grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down, "we already did!" He pulled her into the kitchen where a cake was waiting with twelve unlit candles. Max lit the candles and watched her blow them out before heading upstairs to the safety and comfort of his room.

"I've never had cake for breakfast," Veronica told Lucy as she cut her a piece.

"Yes, well, since it's your birthday and all…"

"Mom's just trying to sweeten you up so you'll see your mom today. She called earlier asking for you. I may have promised her that you would go over for at least an hour. It is your home after all."

"Sam! I can't go over there with Kirby still there. I won't."

"Won't he be at work?"

"I thought I told you he was a lazy bum? He used to go around selling crap that nobody wanted, but then he quit and is now mooching off my mom."

Lucy contorted her face, "He sounds like a terrible man."

"It's because he is." Veronica peered over to a medium sized gift wrapped in purple and silver paper. Next to it was a small box in light blue and green.

"The small one is from Michael and the bigger one is from all of us. David and the others have their own gift they're going to bring over tonight." Lucy seemed hesitant about that. "If it's something horrible I'll make sure Max punishes them. Here, open Michael's first."

Veronica picked up the small gift and carefully unwrapped it. She saw it was a felt blue box and curiously opened it. Inside was a silver heart necklace.

"He put a picture in it, but he wouldn't let me see who it was," Sam sulked.

"It's a locket? Oh how cool!" She took it out and popped it open. Stuck to the right side was a small picture of an old friend, one whom she missed dearly. "I thought vampires couldn't take pictures?"

"Who is it?" Sam stretched his neck to look over at it. "Aw, it's Star, Mom! I kind of miss her. This must be a picture from before she was a vampire. I wonder how she's doing right now?"

"Me too," Veronica mumbled as she clipped the necklace around her neck. Next, she opened the purple one to reveal a shoe box. "It can't be," she gasped. But yes, it was. Black with purple star designs. High tops. Chuck Taylors. "You guys rock!" She shot up and gave Lucy a hug that almost knocked her down, then gave Sam a loud kiss on the check that made him flush red.

"I'm going to go get dressed so I can put them on!"

()()()()()

"H-Hi Mom," Veronica softly whispered when she peeked around her front door. Sam and Lucy had promised to wait in the driveway while Veronica went and talked with her mom. She was sporting her knew gifts, but still not confident enough to be able to face Kirby.

"Veronica! I'm so glad you're home! We have a birthday cake, presents, candles, streamers, everything! Come into the kitchen!"

Veronica did as he mother asked and walked into a scene she dreaded. The kitchen was decorated just like her mom said, but there was one thing she forgot to mention. Kirby sat at the head of the long table. They gave each other the same look that read, _I hate you but I have to deal with you for today_.

"Here, open your presents first," her mom picked up a few boxes then set them back down. "Or maybe we should start with the cake. I know! Let's play a game!" She fluttered around the room trying to decide which would be best.

"Mom, I have Lucy and Sam waiting outside. I was just stopping by to show you I was still alive." Kirby grunted, but Veronica ignored it and kept going, "See? They bought me these new awesome shoes and Michael got me this necklace with Star's picture in it. David and the others are coming over later so I should really get going."

"But, you haven't even been here for ten minutes." Her mom suddenly grew deflated and sat down. "Please, tell them to come back tonight. Please? Spend the day with your mom. Please?"

"I-I don't know mom…" she sighed, "I guess I can."

She popped up and kissed Veronica on the forehead. "You made me so happy! I'll go out and tell Lucy for you."

"Wait Mom! No, I can-" But it was no use arguing, because her mother was already out the door. Now she faced Kirby, who glowered at her.

"You're a little whore, you know that? Doing this shit to your mom like you are. She's your mother, she gave birth to you and had to wipe your ass until you figured out not to shit in your diapers anymore." He stood up and walked over to her. Veronica took a few steps back until her back was against the wall. "Maybe it would be best if you lived with Max. That way you wouldn't get in the way of me and your mom. She told me about your little hissy fit to our wedding plans. Well guess what little girl," he stabbed his finger into her collarbone, "this world doesn't revolve around you. I don't care if you like it or not. We're getting married. If you show up or not, I honestly don't give a rat's ass. But you will either choose to live with Max or us, and if you choose Max, I never ever want to see your shitty little face again. Here me?"

"Y-yes."

"Yes what?"

She whimpered as he dug his finger in deeper. "Yes sir."

"Good. Now your punishment for being a bitch." He quickly gripped the pick necklace around her neck and ripped it off of her. Veronica winced as she felt the burning pain of the leather snapping against her skin. She could already picture the red mark and bruise that would soon be forming.

"No! Give that back!" She screamed, struggling to seize it out of his hands.

"Shut up!" He thundered just as Veronica's mom walked back in.

"What's the matter?" She rushed into the kitchen, but Kirby had already hidden the necklace and sat back in his original position like nothing ever happened.

Veronica was in tears as she screamed at him. "That was a gift from Greg! He's my favorite musician and he gave it to me! He gave it to _me!_ Give it back NOW!"

"Veronica?" Her mom looked to be in disbelief. "What's going on?"

"I hate you both! I hope you die!" She screamed in a shrill, hysterical voice. She ran out the front door and waved down Lucy. Her mom was frozen in place with tears beginning to roll down her face.

"Relax babe," Kirby slowly stood up and rubbed her shoulder. "Now you can let her go live with Max and not have to worry about her anymore."

She slapped his hand away, "What. Did. You. Do?" She growled through gritted teeth.

* * *

So I'm beginning to think I need a cover for this story since it's so popular/long. If anyone wants to make one or has a suggestion, I'll be happy to use it.  
**Thanks for reviewing:**

Jenni-Marie-HP; mickishai2000; KagomeNarome; EvilFalconofDoom; lost boys luvr; Skittle Machine; tomieharley; and my guest StrangeGirl21; CFS


	26. Chapter 26

**I had a totally different plan for this chapter, but then I remembered how much fun it is to write about people slowly losing their mind. So I changed the way this chapter was supposed to go. Enjoy if you're a Star hater. You're welcome for the early update.**

* * *

The cold wind blew through her thin clothing and made her shiver as the pale moon shone off the black waters, making her feel nostalgic. She could remember a time when Michael and her had sat out on the beach watching this moon with Laddie building a sand castle not too far away. Michael left for a few minutes and when he appeared again he carried with him some cream puffs along with that special wine that vampires love so much.

Star sighed as she sat down in the cool sand. She could remember a time when she was loved. Throwing her head into her hands she began to weep until she felt a hand gently rest upon her shoulder.

"You know, there is a way to fix all this."

"Dwayne!" Star shot up, ready to take flight. "Please, I wasn't going to cause anymore problems, I just wanted to be home again. Don't tell Max I'm in the area. Please Dwayne."

"Relax Star, I wasn't planning on it. I know you've been a lot closer to home that just sitting on the beach, too. But I haven't told Max about that. Speaking of which, how have you been able to sneak in and out of the house without Michael catching you?"

"I don't know. Where is Michael, anyway? I've been keeping an eye out for him, but I haven't been able to spot him. Does he know I've stuck around?"

"No, I don't think so. He hasn't come out of the basement very much. Probably only a handful of times."

"How's Laddie doing? I haven't risked coming back lately to check on him. How about Veronica?"

"Laddie misses you and Veronica's still living with Max. She knows about us now."

"What do you mean? She know's we're vampires?" Star appeared shocked and worried.

"Yeah, she seemed to take it okay. I think she had a hunch about us all along."

Star nodded but stayed silent. Dwayne walked past her to the edge of the waves and looked out over the water. Star came up next to him with a question burning in the back of her mind. Finally, when she couldn't handle it any longer, she whispered, "What do you mean there's a way to fix all this?"

"Michael still loves you. The guy has gone crazy without you there. If you get him on your side again, he'll be able to convince Max to let you back into the family. But if you do get accepted back, it's going to take work on your part to stay away from David. You'll never be able to talk or look at him ever again. No matter how hard the temptation is, if you screw up one more time I won't be surprised if Max ends up killing you."

"How am I supposed to avoid David? He's Max's son, Michael's step brother, and he's going to be the best man at the wedding. I want to go to Max and Lucy's wedding."

"I don't think that's a good idea Star. If you get accepted back before the wedding, then Michael will probably start a fight with David either during the ceremony or the reception. Even the stupidest person in the world would know that wrecking a person's wedding is not going to end up well. Max may just snap and kill all three of you."

Star sighed. "Then when should I meet up with Michael? I want him back now."

"I'll leave that up to you. It's going to take a while for him to trust you."

"Can…can you bring him here tonight?"

"I don't think-"

"Please Dwayne, I'm begging you." She started to tear up, "I miss him and I'm sorry for screwing up everything. I just want him back! Please! Please Dwayne! Please!" She broke out sobbing and collapsed in the sand. Dwayne shifted awkwardly and released an irritated sigh. "Dwayne! I want him back! Please! I'm stupid and worthless, I understand that. But I love him!"

"Who's him?"

"Dwayne!"

"Say his name, Star. Who are you really crying about?"

She paused, then stuttered out an incoherent word. Dwayne raised an eyebrow. "Who do you love Star? You'd better figure out an answer to that question before you try to reconcile with Max."

He began to walk away, so Star reached out and grabbed onto his ankle. "Michael! I love Michael!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

He kicked her off without even a moment of guilt. "Star, you're losing it. I knew this was a mistake coming here. I thought maybe…never mind. Maybe it would be best if you left Santa Carla forever and joined a new group. You need to start fresh. Find someone else to love. Forget about David, he doesn't want you."

"But I love Michael!" She tried to stand up, but sank back to her knees. She hugged herself and started rocking back and forth repeating Michael's name in a choked whisper.

"Star, get over him. Get over this whole situation and just leave." He shook his head and walked off the beach, leaving her in a crying, crumpled ball.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

Jenni-Marie-HP; N3ko8; lost boys luvr; SkittleMachine; EvilFalconofDoom; tomieharley; VogueCharlotteVogue; Kagome Narome and my guests: CFS


	27. Chapter 27

"Where's the birthday girl!" Paul cheered as he walked into Max's house. He plopped down two large boxes on the living room coffee table. There was an awkward silence as Marko and David came in behind him. "Max?"

"There was…a problem."

"I feel horrible. It's all my fault," Sam murmured on the couch.

David squinted his eyes at Sam. "What did you do?"

"It's nobody's fault." Max intercepted. "She just had a bad day at her mother's house. She won't tell us what happened, though."

"Where is she?"

"Up in the guest room."

David nodded and swiftly climbed the stairs. Sam called up after him, "I already tried talking to her. It didn't work."

David ignored him and continued. He knocked on the door and waited a second for Veronica to open it a crack and look at him. Without saying a word she opened it just wide enough for him to slip inside.

"Fucking David to the rescue." Sam cursed under his breath. Lucy was out of hearing range, but unfortunately for Sam, Max was not.

"What was that?"

"Uh, nothing!"

Inside Veronica's room, David slowly sat on her bed as she locked herself back into the closet. "What are you doing?"

"I don't want you to see me like this." She revealed from the other side of the closet door.

"Then why did you let me in?"

"Because…I don't know."

"Want to tell me what happened?"

"Can I have a hug first?"

The request came so quickly and randomly, David had to pause to make sure he heard her right. "What? Why?"

She sniffed, "Never mind."

"No, why would you want a _vampire _to hug you?"

"I said never mind."

"Little V, I swear if you don't come out of that closet and talk to me face to face I'll…" he looked around the room, "I'll rip the head off your Count Chocula."

"I don't believe you."

"Fine then." He picked up the plushie. "I'm really not kidding about this." There was no response. David shrugged and the next thing Veronica knew, she heard a gut wrenching sound of cloth ripping.

"No!" She screamed as she flung the door open so hard it crashed against the wall, leaving a dent. David sneered and threw her Count Chocula at her fully intact. Veronica looked confused until she saw the corner of the comforter on her bed had been ripped off.

"You're a jerk."

"And you're gullible. My heart may have stopped working and I may be cold, but I wouldn't destroy a pathetic child's toy."

"I think you're bipolar."

David hid his laugh, "What?"

"You act nice, but you always throw in some form of insult."

"It's just how I am." He patted the bed next to him. "Now tell me what happened at your mom's house?"

Veronica looked from the bed to the closet debating what to do.

"If you go back in that closet I'll just rip the door off the hinges."

Veronica sighed and sat down next to him. She was about to tell him about the necklace, but before she could utter a word David quickly pulled her against him. Then, just as quickly shoved her away. She almost slammed into the headboard, but he caught her by the collar of her shirt.

"Sorry, didn't mean to push you that hard." He saw her new necklace. "Hey, what's this?" He was about to reach for it, but Veronica pulled away. "You replaced the pick necklace?"

"No, that's what happened today." Tears started to form in her eyes. "Kirby ripped it off me."

David's eye quickly flashed colors, but went back to his normal steel blue. "Why?"

"Because I've been staying here for so long. He said it was my punishment for being a…a bad person."

David grumbled, "I'll get it back, I didn't go through all that trouble just to get it taken away from you. What else did he do?"

Veronica chewed the side of her mouth. David raised an eyebrow waiting for her to tell him. "He left a bruise when he pulled off the leather strap. But before that he dug his finger into my chest." She lowered the collar of her shirt to just above her collarbone to show him the bruise there. It was about the size of the tip of Kirby's finger.

"Anything else?"

"No. David?"

"Huh?"

"Can-"

A knock on the door interrupted her. "Veronica! Veronica! It's me sweetie! I have good news!"

"That's my mom," Veronica whispered to David.

"Yeah, I've met her once. You should probably go answer that. I'll see you later Little V."

"Where are you going?"

"Just get the damn door," he called over his shoulder as he climbed out the window.

"He's so strange," Veronica mumbled to herself. She opened the door to her smiling, but teary-eyed mother. "What?" She hissed.

"I kicked Kirby out!" She wrapped her arms around Veronica whose eyes were wide with surprise.

"You did? Really?" Veronica tried to keep her hopes down.

"Yeah! The only reason it took me so long to come over was because I waited until he got every single one of his crappy items out of the house. He's gone for good! You can move back in now!" She let go of her daughter and looked at her in the face. "Right?"

"I…I guess."

"You don't really hate me, do you? I love you so much Veronica. I really really do. You're my one and only baby."

"Mom," she whined, "I'm not a baby. So does this mean the engagement's off, too?"

"Do you see a ring on this finger?" Her mom held up her left hand to show nothing there. "I'm single and ready to mingle," she leaned toward her daughter and whispered in her ear, "with that hunk down there."

"Oh geez," Veronica rolled her eyes. "Mom, please don't embarrass me tonight. Wait, does this mean we can stay for the rest of the party?"

"Of course! It is your party after all."

Veronica gave her mom a half smile, "Thanks."

"Does this mean you forgive me?"

"Yeah, I've never hated you and I really don't hope you die. I love you because you're my mom and always will be. But if I go home and see Kirby…"

"Don't worry. He's gone forever and ever." Her mom smiled with tears still rolling down her cheeks. "You mean so much to me sweetie." The two walked down the stairs hand in hand. Her mom nodded to Max. Max returned a smile and went into the kitchen. A few seconds later the lights were flipped off and he carried in a cake lit with candles. Veronica blew it out and the lights were flipped back on. Marko jumped a little when he saw Dwayne had magically appeared next to him.

"Where the hell have you been? You missed all the good stuff. David went soft on us for a little bit, Max creamed Sam's ass when he dropped an F bomb, and Little V and her mom reunited! It was like a whole little soap opera within ten minutes."

Dwayne shook his head, "Just had to take care of a little business."

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

Jenni-Marie-HP; lost boys luvr; Byrneshadow; mickishai2000; Kagome Narome; EvilFalconofDoom; SkittleMachine; acelostgirl; Paulsvampiregirl; and my guest: CFS


	28. Chapter 28

**Since it's been so long since I've mentioned Veronica's Mom's name, it's Cameron.**

* * *

"So I take it you're moving back in with your mom?" Sam questioned.

"Yup!" She gave him a genuine smile, which he hadn't seen in a long while. "I'm going to go give Michael a piece of cake. Want to come with me?"

"No, I'm good. I'll watch your slice so the fat asses don't eat it. By the way, what did you do to David? He's gone."

"I don't know. He climbed out my window when my mom showed up."

"He's a freak."

Veronica snorted and went down to the basement. "Hey Michael! You don't have to deal with me anymore because my mom kicked out Kirby so I can move back in! Michael? I brought you some…cake. Michael?" She stopped halfway across the basement. The normal ball of depression wasn't curled up on the bed. A flush of fear went through her and she slowly scanned the whole basement for him.

"Michael, this isn't funny. Where are you? Michael?" There was no sight of him. She ran back upstairs, dropping the cake in the basement.

"Max! Max!"

He turned away from Lucy and Cameron. "What is it?" He asked in a worried tone.

"It's Michael! He's gone!"

()()()()()

"Dwayne told me you've completely lost it." Michael, who looked more sickly than usual, approached Star. She had been standing ankle deep in the ocean just staring at the moon with her arms clutching a silky shawl around herself. "I don't know how long I'll be able to talk to you, I smell all these people and I'm about to lose it, too. I haven't fed in a long time."

"You smell like rotten food."

"I've...gone on an eating binge. But you smell like you haven't showered in a really long time." This time there was no joking between the two.

"I miss you Michael."

"I miss you too Star."

"I want to come back."

"You know you can't. Why don't you take Dwayne's advice and start over?"

"Because I'll go crazy. Hell Michael, I already am!"

"You're not crazy, you're just hurt." He slowly came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry for what I said. I was hurt a lot more than you were, though. I _saved_ you from David and you just go back to him like you never really wanted to leave." He took a breath. "_Did_ you want to leave David?"

"Yes. He's bad for me, but I love him. I'm always going to love him Michael. He was my first true love."

"Star…"

"I'm sorry Michael, but it has to be said. We can't move on until I tell you."

"Alright, I'm listening." He leaned his forehead against the back of her head and fought back the tears of pain.

"I never had a boyfriend in high school. Everyone picked on me because I was pretty but I didn't have any confidence. They were jealous so they beat me up and I…I let them. I grew up always thinking I was a worthless piece of junk. My parents weren't of any help because they were dead and I was living with a careless foster mom. At sixteen I dropped out of high school and ran away from home. I came here to Santa Carla. That's when I met Frankie."

Michael snapped his head up, unprepared for that. "Who?"

"A pimp who wanted me to work for him. I didn't know at the time what exactly he wanted me to do. He just offered me money to go to dinner with a man. So I did it. I got paid for a free meal, what could be better than that, huh?" She gave a dry, shaky laugh.

"Then, the next night after that, Frankie asked me if I was a virgin. It was so random that I thought he was joking so I told him the truth; yes, I was. He nodded and never brought it up again. Around an hour later he drove me to this hotel and gave me the key to room 206. I still remember the smell of that room. It smelled like cheap rose perfume and…sex. I didn't know what sex smelt like back then, but now I can make that connection. Stupid me, I went in with a smile. It was the guy from the other night at dinner. Only…he was just wearing a red velvet robe." Star shivered. Michael wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her closer to him.

"I was confused and just stood there like a stupid idiot as he went behind me and locked the door. I remember his breath smelled like coffee when he leaned into my ear and whispered that he…he couldn't w-wait to…to break me." Star bit back the tears.

"Star, you don't have to tell me."

"No Michael, I do." She took a deep breath and continued, "He tried to take my clothes off, but I kept pushing him away. He kept saying how he spent so much money on me and how I should be easier to fuck. He pinned me against the wall, but I clawed him off. I ran to the door and struggled with the lock. The next thing I knew, he was completely naked and brushing up against me. I shoved him off me and ran out of there with my blouse half off and my skirt tangled and twisted. I'm surprised I didn't fall flat on my face.

"Outside I kept running until I reached the cave where the Boys live. I sat down at the edge and debated about jumping off. I felt so gross and ruined. Actually, I almost did jump. But that's when a man knelt down next to me. He asked me what the matter was and I told him everything. I hadn't even seen his face yet, but I told him everything. He let me collapse into his arms and cry. I don't know why he didn't kill me then...he just let me cry and cry to my hearts content. When I was done I sat up and finally looked at him. It was David. He…he was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. I don't know if it was because he was the first person to be nice to me or because I was so suicidal anything gentle looked beautiful, but I loved him.

"He led me down to the cave and said I could stay there for the night; that he would protect me. I think the fact that he used the word 'protect' made me fall in love with him. I stayed there for a year, met the others, met Max, and got along with everyone really well. A year after David found me on his doorstep," she took a breath, "I went to bed with him."

Michael's grip tightened around her waist and she paused. "No, go on. You're right, I have to hear this."

"I woke up the next night and felt different. I wasn't a vampire yet, but I felt like I finally belonged somewhere. I belonged to David. I loved it. A few nights later he told me what he was and that he wanted to change me, too. I held off for another year until my eighteenth birthday; that's when I drank from the infamous bottle. I willingly became what I was so I could be his forever. Then I saw David in his true self. The horror of killing humans overwhelmed me. He led me to the man who almost raped me, but I couldn't even kill him. I wasn't meant to be a vampire and David grew frustrated with me. Then you came along and...and I fell in love with you."

They listened to the sound of the waves for a while as everything set in. Michael sighed and brushed Star's hair off the left side of her shoulder so he could look at her. Tears left a wet trail down her face and more continued to fall.

"Where do we go from here?" She whispered.

"I don't know. I honestly don't know." Michael's face changed and he slowly bit into her neck. She whimpered and clung onto his arms.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing (and sorry for the late update, hope you guys didn't forget about me!):**

Jenni-Marie-HP; EvilFalconofDoom; N3ko8; SkittleMachine; animalbx; mickishai2000; tomieharley (I apologize about another Star chapter); Kagome Narome and my guest: CFS


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N:** Warning, this chapter is on the short side. Just like me haha! Don't whine though, at least you got an update.

* * *

"Michael?" Star whispered as she stroked his hair off his forehead.

"Yeah?"

"The sun's about to come up. You should go."

"Where are you going to stay?"

"I've been staying in the Royal Hotel on the outskirts of town. Can I see you tomorrow?" She stood up and started putting her clothes back on.

"Yeah, do you think Max will smell you on me?" He got up and did the same.

"Well, I'd stay away from him until you can shower."

"I drank some of your blood, though."

"Maybe just stay away from him for a long while." She gave a weak smile until Michael returned it, then she broke out into a giant one. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He kissed her good-bye and fled to the safety of his basement.

()()()()()

"Uh, who's singing in the shower?" Sam asked with a yawn as he came downstairs in his boxers and scratched himself.

"Well, you certainly returned to normal as soon as Veronica left." Lucy gave her son a horrified look. "How many times do I have to tell you to not touch yourself down there when you're in the presence of others?"

"Mom! Geez, it's not like I was playing with myself! I just had an itch that needed to be scratched."

"Sam! I wasn't referring to that!"

"Mom, can we just drop this subject?"

"Yes," she quickly answered and went back to the kitchen. Sam went and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Yo homeboy! What are you doing? I thought you quit showering."

"Shut up you little freak!" Michael yelled from the other side. "Hey," Sam heard the water turn off, "what happened to your girlfriend?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Miss V!"

"Oh, she went back home. She's not my girlfriend, though. She's Alan's."

"Say what?" Michael flung the door opened and stared at his brother with his mouth hung opened. Sam backed up against the wall at the sudden action and warily looked at Michael's loosely tied towel. "I thought she had the hots for you?"

"I don't trust your towel tying skills; can we talk about this after you're dressed?"

"I'm tired, I'm going to bed after I'm done here."

"So we'll talk tonight."

"No, we're going to talk now." Michael reached for his brother, but his towel came undone.

Sam screeched at the scene of his naked brother. "I think not, sir! Hurry up and get dressed before my eyes start bleeding!" He ran away and left Michael laughing.

"Well Mikey seems to be in a good mood," Lucy mused when Sam came running into the kitchen.

"Yeah, everything seems almost back to normal! Well, beside the fact that you're marrying a vampire."

"Enough Sam." Lucy rolled her eyes. She placed a stack of pancakes on his plate. Michael walked in and kissed his mom on the forehead.

"What happened to you last night? You went missing and had everyone worried. Max went out looking for you."

"Well, he didn't look very hard. I was on the beach all night."

"Did you feed?" Sam inquired over the ton of syrup he was pouring on his pancakes.

"Yup, fed _and_ had sex. It was a pretty successful night."

"Ew!"

"Michael!" Lucy looked appalled.

"Well, do you want the truth or not?"

"Not all of it!" She winced.

"Who'd you get in the sack Mikey?" Sam leered at his older brother. For some reason, he felt the need to be proud of Michael. Lucy gave her youngest a disgusted look.

"No one you guys know." He grabbed a stack of pancakes and sat down far away from the window. "Mom, are you sure the blinds are closed all the way?"

"Yes."

"Alright Sam, hurry up and tell me how you lost Miss V to that hunter freak. I'm starting to get a headache."

"It's nothing. Go and eat your pancakes downstairs."

"No! Tell me, I'm all ears."

"Yeah you are."

"Shut up loser, tell me!"

"I honestly don't know. He kissed her and I lost her. End of story."

"So you do like her?"

"A little, but just as a friend."

"Liar," Michael ruffled Sam's hair on his way to the basement. "You can come cry on my shoulder tonight. But for now, I need a break from the day time."

Sam nodded and ate his pancakes in awkward silence. Lucy stared at her son. "When did you get so grown up?"

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

Jenni-Marie-HP; lost boys luvr; SkittleMachine; Byrneshadow; EvilFalconofDoom; Kagome Narome; mickishai2000; Aotearoa's princess; XxsuicidexlovexX


	30. Chapter 30

**Good news:** there's no more Star scenes (besides the mention of her name). **Bad news:** this is because I'm beginning to wrap this story up. So far I'm planning on no more than ten more chapters.

* * *

"Thanks mom!" Veronica yelled with a smile. Her mom was working in her office balancing the car wash's check book when she came downstairs. On the table was something Veronica had been hoping for. Her mom's special Last-Day-of-School-Bananza Pancakes. Usually reserved for the last day of school, her mom decided to make them today since it was the last day of their fight. Veronica didn't care what the occasion was, she ate them greedily and happily.

Once she finished and washed her dishes, she went upstairs to change. Today she decided to drop by Alan's because he said he wanted to give her something. For the special occasion she put her hair into the rare braid. She pulled on a Harley Davidson t-shirt and white pants, along with her new Chuck Taylors. She reached for her glasses on her nightstand. Letting out a surprised scream, she picked up the necklace that was placed next to her glasses. Hanging from her hand was her beloved pick necklace.

"Thanks David!" She giggled as she tied it back in its rightful place. Looking over to the corner of her room she saw her present's from the boys that were half opened. They ended up getting her three amazing gifts: an old, rare book of vampire lore from Dwayne, a brand new Walkman from Paul, and a vampire fang key ring from Marko. He wasn't expecting the others to get her something so big, so he was a little disappointed when she opened theirs. Paul and Dwayne's gloating didn't help, either. David hadn't said anything about not showing up with a gift, and now she knew why.

She skipped down the stairs and kissed her mom on the cheek. "I'm going out for the day!"

"What? But you just got home!"

"I know, but Alan said he wanted to see me. I won't stay long."

"Leave it to a boy to break up our mother-daughter bonding time." She smiled and kissed her daughter back. "Have fun and stay out of trouble. I expect to hear all about it."

"Sure mom," Veronica laughed. She headed out the front door and hummed to herself on her way to the comic shop. When she arrived Alan was outside waiting for her.

"Let's go this way," he led her away from the shop.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't want Edgar finding out about us yet. He can be cruel sometimes."

"What about us?"

"Well, that's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about today. You mind if we just walk around the town? It's such a nice day."

"Sure!"

"Here," he handed her a flat square object wrapped in silver paper. She took it in her hands and looked up at him. She flashed him a smile.

"You didn't have to get me anything."

"Yeah I did, it was your birthday after all."

She opened it and gasped at what she saw. There in her hands was a copy of I, Vampire. Alan shrugged, "For your vampire collection. I'm hoping you don't have this comic already, right?"

"Nope!" She ran up to him and hugged him. When she pulled away his whole face had gone bright red. She giggled at him and he flushed an even deeper red.

"Why are you so cheery?"

"Me and my mom made up. She kicked Kirby out so now I'm back living at home."

Alan let a rush of air out. "Good, I didn't want to keep going over to Max's house."

They continued walking in silence for a while. "So…what about us did you want to talk about?"

"Well, um, uh," he stuttered.

"Alan, just ask me, will you?"

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

"I have my heart set on David," she watched as his look grew sad, "but since you're human and I'm human, why not!" She ran up to him and did something rash. Something unexpected. Something David told her not to do. She ran up to him and placed a giant kiss on his lips.

"Wow! You must be in a good mood!" Alan laughed with her. He walked her back home, hand in hand, and kissed her again on her door step.

"Thanks again for the gift. Like I said, I would hang out longer, but my mom wanted me home early."

"It's okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye," she smiled.

He smiled back, "Bye."

When Veronica went inside she noticed the blinds by the front window were moving. Nonchalantly sitting in the recliner nearby was her mom, reading a book upside down. Veronica's face went red.

"Welcome back sweetie."

"Mom?"

She placed her book down. "What did cutie pie get you for your birthday?"

"Mom! Were you watching us?"

"What? Me? No! Seriously, what did he get you?"

Veronica rolled her eyes, "A vampire comic. I'm going to go put it away."

"Alright, when you get done, come back downstairs and we can go shopping!"

"But you already bought me a lot of things for my birthday."

"We can just walk around together in the mall. I want to catch up on everything that happened while you were away. Plus, I want to ask you about Mr. McHottie Pants."

"Mom, I don't want to talk about Alan," she blushed with a smile.

Her mom shook her head, "No, not Alan. Marko!" Veronica's smiled instantly dropped and she trudged upstairs.

The topic of Marko didn't come up again until they had stopped at a pretzel café. Her mom kept bugging her about him until Veronica finally answered.

"Mom! I know you just broke up with Kirby and probably want another guy to latch onto, but Marko's not the guy."

"Why not?"

"Because you're too old!"

"Veronica!" Her mom scoffed. "I'm not too old for anyone."

"But the boys joke around that you're a cougar and at first I didn't know what they were talking about, but today I asked Alan what it meant. He laughed at me and said that it's an old lady who likes young guys. So you're a cougar mom! A cougar!"

"I am not a cougar! Marko said he was twenty-eight. That's only ten years…younger….than me. Oh my Veronica, I am a cougar."

"Told you. Wait! When did you talk to Marko?"

"At your birthday party."

"Oh no! I told you not to embarrass me!"

"How did I embarrass you?"

"Did you try to put your moves on him?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Did you try to 'get him in the sack' or whatever Sam said?" Her mom's mouth dropped open. "Before I found out Michael went missing Sam said you were trying to get Marko in the sack. You tried to get him to be your boyfriend, didn't you?!"

She sighed, "Dear, I think we need to have the talk soon."

"What! No!"

"Sweetie," she laughed, "that's not what 'get in the sack' means."

"Well what does it mean?"

"You don't need to know."

"Yes I do!"

"You don't want to know."

"Yeah Mom, I do! What if Alan want's to 'get in the sack' with me?"

Her mom spit her pop all over Veronica. "No! Absolutely not. No. Never. Don't do it."

"Well what does it mean?" Veronica asked as she blotted up her mom's pop and spit.

"Sex."

Veronica's head snapped up and she let out a horrified scream.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

Byrneshadow; mickishai2000; EvilFalconofDoom; tomieharley; Paulsvampiregirl; and my guest: stripeyy


	31. Chapter 31

I'm not happy with this chapter, but it's a chapter so enjoy~

* * *

It was dark out when Veronica finally convinced her mom to take her over to Sam's house to hang out. Her mom didn't want to agree, but somehow ended up in the car driving her over.

"You're not going to spend the night are you?" Veronica's mom inquired of her daughter.

"No, I just want to ask David something. I called Sam and he said the Boys were over."

"All of them?"

"No Mom, Marko's not there. There's no need for you to go in."

"Why sure there is!" Her mom pulled into Max's drive way. "What is he doing?" She whispered.

"Mowing the grass."

"At night?"

"Why not?" Veronica smiled and bounced out of the car. Luckily her mom didn't follow her inside, but just as Veronica opened the door Marko was there.

"Hey Little V! How's it going?" He patted her on the head and walked out.

"Um, good." She went inside and found Sam in the kitchen playing cards with Dwayne and Michael. Something felt off.

"Sam?"

"Huh?"

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Hello Miss V!"

"Hey Little V."

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's David?"

"He's out in the garage. His bike broke down on the way here," Dwayne responded for Sam.

"Thanks. Sam?"

"Still here."

"Take me to the garage."

"You know where it is."

"Sam!"

"You used to live here!"

"Fine, be an asshole!" She stomped off to the garage, leaving Michael and Dwayne speechless.

"Michael!" Sam punched his brother in the shoulder. "You said she would want me more if I ignored her! You didn't tell me she would get angry!"

"How was I supposed to know she was going to get mad! Miss V never gets mad!"

"You suck!" He threw his cards at Michael. "Dwayne, we need to talk."

Dwayne looked confused and a little scared, "About what?"

"Girls. Michael obviously sucks at this."

Out in the garage Veronica waited for Max to put the mower away before going up to David. He was on his back working under his bike which was being held up by a lift. Neither of them saw Veronica around the corner. Max seemed to not be in a hurry for work tonight.

"Where's Paul?" He questioned David.

"Making the mattress squeak with Maria."

"Why are all of you so horny?"

"It's Paul, he's always been this way."

"No, even Marko. He's off screwing Veronica's mom."

"Already? Man, that was quick."

"He about did it in my driveway," Max growled.

"Ew, that's so gross." David sat up with a smile. "I can't believe he digs old peo-" He stopped when he saw Veronica. Her mouth was hung wide open and her eyes were huge.

"What is Marko doing with my mom!?"

"Veronica!" Max turned his head and his face went red. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were there!"

"I told her she's too old for him! She's going to get it when I get home."

"I wouldn't go home just yet." David snickered.

Max glared at his son, "David stop, go back under you bike."

"Sure," he flopped down and started connecting wires. Max left in a rush, not wanting to explain to Veronica what "screwing" exactly meant. So, she went up to David.

"Seriously, what is Marko doing to my mom?"

"Uh, hand me that wrench, will you?"

"Okay," she did what was asked. "Thanks for getting my necklace back. How'd you do it?"

"I took it back."

"And Kirby let you?"

"Yup."

"Did you kill him?"

"Mother!" He quickly sat back up and grabbed a towel. He began to furiously rub his eye.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just got oil in my eye. What do you want?"

"I just wanted to say thanks."

"Well, you're welcome. Now go away."

"Only after you tell me what Marko and my mom are doing."

"Go away!" He leaned back under his bike even though his eye was still watering from the oil.

Veronica was on her way out when David sat up yet again. "Wait, ask Michael what it means."

Veronica nodded. "Okay!" Back in the kitchen Michael and Dwayne were playing by themselves. Veronica acted relieved, but deep inside she felt guilty.

"Hey Michael?"

"Gin." He looked up to her, "Yup?"

"You suck, literally and figuratively." Dwayne mumbled.

"David told me to come up here and ask you what 'screwing' means."

"Uuuhh…"

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

Kagome Narome; Jenni-Marie-HP; Byrneshadow; tomieharley; EvilFalconofDoom; lost boys luvr; DiamondDog74 (you can have Taime as long as I get my Greggy hehe); mickishai2000; Mrs. Ace Merrill (love your name and am totally going to read some of your stories!)


	32. Chapter 32

"Mom!" Veronica screamed. "You had sex with Marko?!"

"Sh sh sh," her mom came running out of the living room and roughly put her hand over Veronica's mouth. "You have to be quiet."

Veronica's eyes grew huge, so she whispered. "Is he here?"

"No, but someone else is."

"Wait, so are you and Marko a thing now?"

"No honey."

"So who's here then?"

"Veronica, sweetie," her mom got down on her knees and held her shoulders in her hands. "I love you sweetie and I'm only doing this because he's really really hurt."

"What are you talking about? Who is here?"

"Kirby showed up on the doorstep covered in blood and both eyes swollen really badly. He's laying down in the living room now. As soon as he's better I'll send him back home. I swear."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"He was seriously hurt. Someone beat him up. If you saw him you would understand why-"

"No mom, I wouldn't understand. I don't understand why you keep going back with him."

"I'm not going back with him."

"But you will! I'd rather you marry Marko and have him be my dad even though it would be awkward as all hell."

"Watch your language."

"No! You can go and bite me, _mother,_ because I've changed my mind. I hate you. Happy? Is this what you've wanted all along? For me to hate you?"

"No! Veronica! He just needs to get better and then he'll be gone."

"Let him bleed to death for all I care!" She screamed.

"Veronica! He's a human being!"

"No he's not! He's a monster! He's worse than a monster! He's a sicko that abuses you and me! You know what he did the other day? He tore my necklace off me and left a bruise. I told David and he got my necklace back for me. David did this to him! I'm glad, too! He should have killed the son-of-a-bitch!"

"Veronica!" Her mother raised her voice to match.

"That's what he is _Cameron_! He's evil and sick and a pervert! But you won't believe me on that one. Well I'm not going to stay here and wait till he rapes me. I'm leaving for good!"

"Where are you going to go? Huh? Max won't let you stay there forever!"

"He will if I tell him how bad of a mother you are!"

"I am not a bad mother!" She screamed, her face flushed and tears flowing.

"Yes you are! You're the worst mother I could ever have had! You're a fucking bitch!" Veronica cried. She ran out the door and slammed it as hard as she could.

()()()()()

Veronica ran all the way to Max's house without stopping. She felt déjà vu, but didn't care because this time she wasn't ever going back. When she ran into the garage David was by the workbench soldering something for his bike. He put down the flame just in time as Veronica came up and tackled him to the ground. He froze not quite sure what was going on. Veronica lay on top of him crying hard and loud. David patted her on the back and sat up. He held her in his arms until she got her crying under control.

"You want to tell me why you just threw me to the ground?"

"Because I want my daddy!"

"So why did you come to me first? Isn't your dad buried somewhere?"

"I don't know where. We never visit his grave anymore. Ever since Kirby showed up."

"Did something happen again?"

"Yes."

David sighed, "Well?"

"Kirby's back."

"What! No. There's no way he's back so soon. I knocked him out cold. What about Marko? Wasn't your mom with Marko?"

"She said they weren't together."

"I can't believe this."

"He's an evil man David. Can you get rid of him?" She hiccupped as another wave of tears came out.

"I'm going to get rid of him just because the guy annoys me."

She buried her head in his gray long-sleeved shirt and sniffled. He grunted, "You'd better not get snot on me."

"Miss V?" Michael appeared in the garage with a worried look on his face. Veronica didn't bother to look up.

"You'd better get the bedroom ready. She's staying with Max a while longer." David sighed. "Also, tell Max I need to talk to him about doing something about this."

"Kirby?"

"Yeah."

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

Paulsvampiregirl; EvilFalconofDoom; Aotearoa's princess; Kagome Narome; Jenni-Marie-HP; tomieharley; Byrneshadow


	33. Chapter 33

"You know, I would totally be willing to become a vampire to kill Kirby for you." Sam stated. It was almost one week later and Kirby was still in Veronica's home. Right now Veronica, Sam, and the Frog brothers were having a sleep over in Sam's tree house. The only reason the Frog brothers decided to come was so they could keep an eye on the vampires. If it wasn't for Alan's insistent pestering, they wouldn't be here at all.

"Dude, you're talking crazy talk now," Alan grimaced. "Just have one of your little blood-sucking friends do it. Killing's what they do anyway, so why not put it to good use?" Edgar snorted his approval.

"David and Max don't seem to be doing anything about this. I don't know what Max is waiting for."

"Maybe he likes having me here," Veronica mumbled from the corner. If Marko hadn't carried her up to the tree house to get her out of her now-permanent room, she wouldn't be here at all either.

"If Kirby was dead, would you move back home?" Edgar questioned through a mouthful of cheese crackers.

"Maybe…I don't know. Right now I don't think I would, even though I do miss my bed. Hey," she perked up for a second, "do you think Michael would be willing to get my bed over here?"

"No. He's been gone every night lately. I don't know where he goes, either."

A look of adventure flickered over Edgar's expression. "That's funny, maybe we should follow him tonight."

"I think he already left," Sam craned his neck to look at the house. "Wait, maybe not. His bike's out in the driveway, though, so he's going to leave soon."

"Perfect! Don't you want to know where he's going?"

"Not really…alright yes I do. Veronica?"

Both Sam and Edgar looked at her with hopeful expressions. "Um, no, I'm not really feeling up to sneaking around in the dark."

"Aw come on, don't be a lame wad." Edgar wined. He knew if she wouldn't come neither would Alan. For some reason he seemed to follow her around like a dog on a leash. That would be another mystery he would have to figure out later.

"I can stay behind with you," Alan offered to Veronica.

Edgar rolled his eyes, "I knew it. You're both losers!" He called as Sam and him climbed down to the ground.

Alan shifted closer to Veronica once they were gone. "So, how are you doing?"

She didn't flinch or move away like she usually did whenever someone tried to communicate with her. "Horrible. Just look at me."

"You look wonderful."

"Don't lie."

Alan groaned; this was a battle he already knew not to get involved with. "So school starts in two weeks. Are you ready for it?"

"Don't remind me, please."

"Aren't you excited for eighth grade?"

Veronica paused before telling him. "I'll only be in seventh."

"What?" He looked at her with big round eyes. "But I'll be a freshman this year and…I thought you were going into eighth grade?"

"What made you think that?"

"Well, I just assumed."

"Assume makes an ass out of you and me."

"What's up with all the swearing lately? You've changed…a lot."

"Do you want to break up or something?" Veronica hid her head between her knees and snarled.

"Hey! I didn't say anything about breaking up. I just think you and your mom need to talk things out-"

"We did. That obviously didn't work."

Alan sighed. "Alright, I get it. You don't want to listen to reason."

"I don't want to listen to you. I don't want to be out here in this stupid tree house. I don't want to go back to school. I don't want to do anything except die, alright?"

"I thought you wanted to be a vampire?"

"That too. That way I could kill Kirby and rip my stupid mother's throat out!" She screamed the last part of her statement before breaking out into tears. Alan rolled his eyes and scooted even closer to her so he could place his arm around her shoulders. She quickly sat up and pushed him away.

"What?" He looked confused and a little hurt.

"You're not helping Alan. I just…I don't know what I want!" She threw up head back down on her knees again and continued to weep. Alan felt like climbing down until he heard her whimper something about her father.

"Where's he at?" He carefully asked.

"Dead!"

"No, where's he buried at?"

"I don't know."

Alan nodded and silently climbed down the steps. After a long moment of pacing by the back door of Max's house, he went inside. He felt the need to stop breathing, but forced himself to find Max or better yet, Lucy. Unfortunately, he came across David.

They stood locked in a staring contest. David froze in the middle of the kitchen doorway, while Alan had one foot posed and ready so he could make a dash out of there.

"What do you want?" David barked out, slightly confused.

"I um," Alan had to fight off his urge to throw something sharp towards David's dead heart. He had to do this for Veronica. "I need you…to do…something for me. Not for me! For Veronica!"

David smirked, "And what's that?"

"Take her to her dad's grave."

There was an awkward silence between the two. Alan broke it first, and he had to admit that he felt a little pride at tripping up this vampire. "She needs to see him. I don't know where he's buried at, but I have a feeling you'll be able to find that out. Also, tell her good-bye for me. Sam's the one who can help her through this. I-I can't do it. I'm not built for girls crying all the time."

He smirked, "So you want me to tell her you're gay?"

"No! Just that a freshman and a seventh grader can't date. But two seventh graders can." Alan finally turned and left. He looked up at the tree house one last time. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew she was in good hands.

()()()()()

"Hey brat," David grunted as he climbed up to the tree house. Alan had left for good and David couldn't say he minded that much; he hated the hunter's guts. Having one less reason for him to hang around Max's house made him feel a lot more comfortable. There also wasn't that possibility of having Veronica turn against them now. If anything, she would hate the hunter as much as the boys did.

By now Veronica had quit crying and was just sulking in the corner. "Don't bother with me. Just leave me out here to rot."

"Ugh, don't tell me you're turning Goth now." She didn't respond. "Come on, get up." He gently pushed her to stand up. "We're going for a motorcycle ride."

After some prodding and convincing, she finally made her way onto the back of David's bike. He started it up and made sure she wasn't in danger of flying off by wrapping her arms around his waist tightly. She didn't seem to make a big deal out of anything anymore.

A little over an hour and a half later, they arrived in front of a forgotten looking cemetery. It had giant, crumbling statues and because of the dark, the mood was rather chilling. David loved it.

"Look familiar?" He asked as he helped Veronica off the bike.

"All cemeteries look the same."

"Oh, but that' where you're wrong. The one a few miles down from the Boardwalk has a normal chain-link fence. Then there's one on Burendry Street that doesn't have a fence at all and only has a few tombstones. This one here has a rusted Victorian-looking gate. Plus, your Dad."

She finally looked up at him. "How do you know where he's at?"

"Max had a talk with your mom. She accepted that it would be better if you could visit him." He started off down the weedy path that snaked its way through the rows of graves. Veronica made sure not to lose track of him, because even though she loved the dark and twisted things in life, cemeteries at night gave her the creeps. When they arrived at his grave, a wave of recognition flooded over Veronica. She could remember coming here when she was only a little girl. Back then, the place was nicer and her father's grave wasn't cracking with plants growing over his name. Without thinking, she reached down and tore them off.

_Tommy "T-Bone__" __McCovern_

_Born a Biker, Lived a Biker, Died a Biker_

"Uh, so I take it your dad was really into motorcycles." David studied the tombstone with a bike symbol underneath.

"Yeah, my mom said that for his funeral his club followed behind the hearse on their bikes. Did you know he was the leader of that club?"

"How would I? I've never met him. What was his club?"

"The Decaying Angels."

"No way!" David's interest perked up at that name. "I've heard of them before. They were located just outside of L.A. right?"

"Yup. That's where we lived before we moved here. My dad grew up in Santa Carla so my mom decided to bury him in-between here and my old home."

"Did he now?" He mumbled more to himself than Veronica. "How old was he when he died?"

"Um…I think he was around twenty-five."

"That young? And he ran The Decaying Angels?" The look of shock on David's face was the most emotion she had ever seen him use.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing…just say something so we can leave. I don't trust leaving my bike out there for too long. This neighborhood's not the best."

Veronica heard the crunching of footsteps as he walked to give her some personal time. She sat down on her knees and recited the Lord's Prayer just to break the silence.

"Hey Dad," she finally began after a moment. "So, David and Max have been keeping good care of me now that Mom's sorta out of the picture. You don't have to worry. Oh and by the way, I turned out to like bikes, too. David lets me ride on the back of his. I have a boyfriend now, his name's Alan, but I don't think we'll last long so you don't need to worry about that. But Dad, if you can do anything from the grave, could you maybe scare the life out of Kirby? Like, literally scare the life out of him? That would solve so many problems. I guess I would move back in with Mom if you did that. Oh, and by the way…I miss you." She kissed her palm then placed it on the tombstone. Standing up, she brushed off her knees and headed off in the direction David went.

It wasn't hard to find him. He was leaning up against a statue of what once used to be a beautiful weeping angel. Now it was a broken, scarred, decapitated body with the wings broken around the base.

"Let's get out of here; this place is depressing."

David nodded his agreement and started for the front gate. Veronica rushed up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I think I know why I love you now."

David tensed up, but didn't flee the scene like he would have preferred to do. "Why's that?"

"You remind me of my Daddy."

He grunted. Not knowing what else to do, he reached around behind him and patted her head. "Uh, thanks. Uh…I…like you too."

She squeezed him a little tighter before letting go. They walked to his bike with Veronica cleaning off her tears and David chewing the inside of his cheek. Suddenly a thought struck him.

"By the way, Alan told me to tell you that he's gay now."

()()()()()

"You guys didn't figure out anything about Michael, did you?" Alan raised an eyebrow when his sweaty and panting brother walked into the comic shop.

"No. Sam forgot to mention that we couldn't out run a motorcycle."

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

lost boys luvr; Jenni-Marie-HP; Kagome Narome; mickishai2000; XxsuicidexlovexX; Byrneshadow; animalbx; tomieharley; EvilFalconofDoom; Mrs. Ace Merrill; and my guests: STRANGEGIRL21; winter; S


	34. Chapter 34

**First Day of the New School Year**

"Hey Dwayne!" Michael called as the boys walked in. "Guess what Sammy's taking this year?"

"Shut up turd face!" Sam screamed at his brother.

"Home-ec! He's got to learn how to sew, bake, and clean a house. Like a girl!" Michael broke out in laughter with David and Paul. Dwayne shrugged with an uncaring look on his face while Marko sighed at the poor boy.

"I'm sorry dude. I remember I was forced into that class, too." Marko patted Sam on the shoulder.

"Hey Sam, can you sew up my underwear for me?" Paul batted his eyelashes.

Marko squinted his eyes, "Leave him alone man! A guy can't help it he got stuck in a girly class like that."

"Maybe he'll make us food," David grinned. "Or sew our patches on our jackets."

"Haha, yeah now that would be totally bitchin'." Paul high fived his leader.

"Just accept it man," Marko leaned down to Sam's level, "they're jealous so they're going to make fun of you. You'll learn to live with it."

David snorted the last of his laughter. "So how are Little V's classes going?"

"Good I guess. I don't see her much now that she's living with her mom again."

Michael sighed, "I can't believe they made up so easily."

"She held true to her promise. She kept Kirby until he was better, then kicked him out. Veronica said she was just so tired of fighting, too."

"Yeah, but how long until he's back again?" David asked as he popped the top off a bottle of Coke with his teeth. Lucy walked in and grimaced.

"David, you're going to ruin your teeth."

"Think about it Mooom," he rolled his eyes in an imitation of a snotty teenaged boy, "my teeth are not going to be taken out by a simple bottle."

Lucy sighed at her soon to be step-son. "Veronica's coming over in a little bit, so you can tell her whatever it was you needed to tell her."

Michael looked at him, "What's that?"

"Nothing" David shrugged and headed out to the garage.

It was less than a half-hour later when Veronica showed up. She had a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. "Hey Sam!" She smiled. Ever since Alan and her broke up, she never mentioned the Frog Brothers and tended to be a little bit kinder to Sam.

"Hey, uh, so David has something he wants to tell you."

"Oh? Well, I have something I want to tell you. But first, how are you classes? I have a bunch of amazing ones this year. My last hour even has three of my friends in it! So much better compared to last year."

"I'd really rather not talk about my classes…"

"You didn't get any good ones?"

"Nah, not really. What did you want to tell me?"

"Actually, it's more like I want to ask you something. Like I said, my last hour has three of my friends, Marissa, Jane, and Kennedy. We talked about what we did over summer-"

Sam looked worried, "You didn't say anything about the vampire thing, did you?"

"No!" She defended herself. "I'm not stupid. But, I did tell them about you. And they came to a conclusion."

"What's that?"

"You like me!" Veronica gloated. "And they wanted me to ask you out because it would affect them if I had a semi-popular boyfriend. Since me and Alan are sort of over and I don't think David and I would work out, I've decided I'll do just that!"

Sam's mouth dropped open. "_Semi-_popular? How do they figure that? I've got to be one of the most popular kids in school! I'm even going to be on the football team now that I'm in seventh grade!"

"Sam? Popular?" David let out a laugh from behind the two. He walked in from the garage and patted Veronica on the head. "I thought I heard your voice. Hey, so I found something out for you."

"Oooh! Is Kirby dead?" She turned away from Sam and their current topic.

"No, we lost track of him. I'm thinking he left Santa Carla. But, I did find out something almost as good. When you were talking to me about your dad, something was bothering me. A young guy like that wouldn't be head of a club and his name sounded familiar. I then remembered when I was little Max used to talk about the Decaying Angels. So I went on a little hunt. Turns out your dad knew Max since before he was married to your mom."

"Did they grow up together?" Sam inquired, feeling slightly interested.

"Shut up pipsqueak, let me tell me story. I asked Max about him, and he got real quiet and depressed-like. I went to where he stores all his old stuff and found a super old grade school year book. They were in it. I confronted Max and finally got him to spill his guts about them being best friends. Turns out Little V, you're more related to vampires than you think."

Veronica gasped, "Am I part vampire? That explains why I'm so obsessed with them!"

"No, not quite. But, your dad was. In fact, all the Decaying Angel's were vampires." David smiled in triumph at his findings. "So technically in a way you could be part vampire. But not really. Vampires can't bare vampiric children. If your dad wouldn't have gotten killed by a hunter, then you might have ended up being one when you got older. Same goes for your mom."

She shook her head, "But my dad wasn't killed by a hunter. He was in a motorcycle accident."

"That was Max's cover up. Your dad was on his motorcycle when a hunter got him. He was off his guard so it was easy, and a cheap shot," David growled. "So to keep your mom in the dark, Max set it up to seem as if he was in a really bad motorcycle accident. He has friends in high places, so it was relatively easy. He just put a random John Doe in the casket and kept it as a closed casket service, so no one was the wiser."

Veronica looked confused, "But where's my dad's body then?"

"Ah well…vampires tend to just sort of…_poof_ into dust when they get staked."

She frowned, "So I was talking to a hobo when we went to his grave?"

"Basically. But to be fair, I didn't know! You should be mad at Max."

"So he doesn't know I went to visit him?" Veronica's eyes began to grow shiny with tears.

David looked uncomfortably at Sam. Sam sighed and took over, "He knew you did Veronica. He's always been watching over you. No matter where you are in the world, he's always going to here you when you talk to him."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she sniffed and gave a half-smile. "Thanks for letting me know David. Is Max ever going to tell my mom about you guys? What if she ends up with Marko!"

"Haha, I don't think that's going to happen. But no, Max would prefer to keep her in the dark. He doesn't feel like she would be able to handle it." He shrugged. "Max would miss you if you guys moved away."

"Aw, well tell him I'd miss him too!"

"Will do," David called over his shoulder as he headed back into the garage. Veronica turned to Sam with a full smile. She began to laugh, and soon Sam joined her.

"Now I know why Max accepted me so easily. I was his best friend's little girl!"

"Yeah, you could have grown up with David!" Sam's face twisted into shock once the realization hit him. "How weird would that be?"

"Then maybe we would have eventually ended up together?" Veronica swooned dramatically.

"I thought you said you were over him?"

"Why are you jealous?"

"No! Well…not really. I mean, why should I be? It's not like I…" He sighed in defeat. "Alright fine, your friends may be onto something."

"So you do like me!"

"I guess. Sorta." Veronica put her hand on her hips and looked at him in the eyes. "Alright fine! I've liked you ever since I found out you weren't a loser! Happy you loser?"

"Yeah," she grinned and gave him a giant hug. He hugged her back with a laugh and one of the biggest smile's he's ever had.

* * *

**Thanks for reviewing:**

lost boys luvr; Byrneshadow; EvilFalconofDoom; Kagome Narome; Mrs. Ace Merrill; mickishai2000; tomieharley; Jenni-Marie-HP; and my guests: Romania201; S


	35. Chapter 35

"Hey mom! I'm home! Oh, and I have a new boyfriend now! Sam finally admitted that he had a crush-" She stopped in her tracks. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for your mother." Kirby stated as he played with a bottle of rum. He was sitting at the kitchen table glowering at Captain Morgan. "I just _know_ she's out with that Marko kid. Isn't she?" His voice was dangerously low and threatening.

"I-I don't know." She began to back out to the door.

"She said she wanted to break up. Wanted to see other people," he hissed. "I didn't think she'd find anyone else who wanted her sorry ass. Guess I was wrong. Didn't think she's go for a _little boy._ Not only is she a whore, but she's also a pedophile."

Courage surged through Veronica's veins to defend her mother. They didn't have the best relationship, but her mom wasn't there to defend herself and Veronica would always love her. "Marko's a lot older than you think. In fact, he's older than my mom is!"

Kirby snapped his head around and looked at her with drunken eyes. "How stupid do I think you am…" he scrunched his eyes in confusion. He tried to fix the sentence in his mind, but decided to just yell at her. "I am not stupid! You harlot! You whore! You'll end up just like your mommy." He attempted to get up and managed to stagger a few inches her way, but collapsed on the floor. There wasn't much rum left in the bottle to spill, but he managed to get a few drops out.

"You're the pedophile! Marko is so much better then you!" She decided to metaphorically kick him while he was down. He was too drunk to run to her, so now was the time to tell him what she thought. "He's a gentleman…in a way and he actually likes me. You've only liked me to beat me around and do nasty things with. You need to just die or go away forever."

"You! You need to shut your mouth!" He pointed a finger at her as he tried to pick himself up. He hiccupped and fell to his knees again.

"You're a mess. I don't know why my mother ever liked you. I wish my daddy was still alive so he could tear your throat out!"

"Shut up!" He bellowed from the floor.

"Make me!" Suddenly Veronica felt like she was out of control. She took her metaphorical kicks, and turned them into physical ones. Quickly stepping up to him she kicked him harshly in the side. He let out another hiccup, but didn't seem to be injured. Veronica released another one on his arm, but instead of whimpering in pain like she thought he would, he grabbed her ankle and pulled her down.

"Stop it you gremlin!" He threw the bottle at her face and started laughing. "Gremlin…because you look like one."

"Freak!" She screamed as she got up and ran to the phone. The bottle had hit her square in the jaw so it was difficult to talk. Kirby was still on the floor laughing when Paul picked up the phone.

"Ye ol' Maxy residence. How may I be of service to you?" He purred into the phone.

"Paul! Kirby! He threw a bottle- Help!" She managed to get out before Kirby pulled the phone line out of the wall.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," he waved a finger in the air. "Are you sending out an SOS? You shouldn't do that." He said in a sing-songy voice.

"Get away!" She tried to kick his throat this time, but he shoved her foot aside and stood up. He seem to be more stable and a lot more angry. "Get away from me, you're drunk!" Veronica screamed again as she turned and ran for the door.

Kirby lunged toward her and pinned her against the wall, drunkenly grabbing for her throat. "You know for a twelve year old girl, you sure have a bad attitude."

"Help!" She screamed as loudly as she could. They struggled for a few seconds before he slapped her hard across the face. She froze in shock and pain. Her heart started beating rapidly as he began to slide his hands to her chest, but just before he got to anything important the door burst open. Kirby cussed under his breath as he let her go and picked up the nearby rum bottle.

"And what the hell do you want, freak!" He yelled as he threw the bottle towards the man's head. Veronica slammed her eyes closed, slide to the floor, and curled into a ball as she saw the flash of teeth and blood being spilt. She heard a blood curdling scream come from Kirby then a sound she could only guess was the sound of flesh being ripped open. Soon there was a hiss as the man threw something large out the door and it landed with a thump. Veronica hoped it was Kirby's dead body. After a few seconds of peaceful silence Veronica felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, he's gone now," a male voice whispered. When she opened her eyes she saw a mane of golden hair around a familiar face.

"Paul!" She whimpered as she flung her arms around his neck and began crying. He carried her outside into the cooling breeze and placed her on his bike. When she looked up she saw David's bike, but no David.

Paul read the confusion in her face. "He's getting rid of the body. Dwayne's helping Max figure out a way to explain all of this to your mom. They're thinking of leaving a note in your house that he decided he didn't want a family and moved back to Texas with some hooker he picked up." He gave her a giant smile and a hug as she sniffled and rubbed the tears off her face.

"That sounds like something he would do. Thanks for saving me Paul." She whimpered.

"Slide onto the back and I'll take you to Sam's. Everyone's there. For some reason Laddie seemed especially worried about you. I think you may have made a new friend. Michael will make you something to eat if you're hungry."

"Okay," she smiled up at him before going to the back of the bike. She held on tightly and began to think. She was over David and Sam would just have to suck it up, because as of right now, she has decided that she is in love with Paul.

_And so it begins again…_

* * *

**A/N: **There's one more thing coming! It's a surprise! Also, if I left anything unanswered, please tell me! But I'm going to say my goodbyes now since this is the last "thanks for reviewing" I'll have. You've all been amazing and I'm really glad I could get you enthralled with this story. As a hopeful future author, that makes me the happiest! À plus tard mes amis!

P.S. I'll totally be writing more Lost Boys fics in the future. Maybe...just maybe...a sequel. No promises though.

**Thanks for reviewing:**

Jenni-Marie-HP; Byrneshadow; lost boys luvr; EvilFalconofDoom; Kagome Narome; tomieharley; Mrs. Ace Merrill; and my guests: S and guest (David and Veronica were never supposed to get together. She's 12, she doesn't want to have sex with him you perv.)


	36. Epilogue: The Wedding

**P.S. There's a person in here that I haven't mentioned since ch.9. Plus, in the beginning I had Lucy's dad and the Widow Johnson break up. Just refreshing your memory!**

* * *

"You may now kiss the bride." The pastor smiled as Max and Lucy took their first kiss as husband and wife. Halfway down the aisle, Max scooped Lucy up and carried her to the limo. When they arrived to the park's garden Lucy had planned for the reception, no one on Lucy's side questioned why they had their wedding at night. Strung through all the flowers were white and blue lights that went along with the rest of the decor. The way the lights were wound around tree trunks and threaded through bushes made the whole garden seem like heaven was shining down on it. Once inside on the patio, it appeared like one was inside a crystal ball. And as an extra surprise for Lucy, her dad had beautiful fireworks planned for when the bride and groom arrived. Just because he didn't like Max, didn't mean he wanted his little girl's second wedding to be as bland as her first.

Out on the floor Lucy and her dad danced to 'Heaven' by Warrant. Halfway through the song, Max came and took her dad's place. As the bride and groom twirled away in the starlight, her father's bottom lip quivered.

"Aw Sweetie, don't cry. She's a big girl now and finally found the right man." Alexis walked up to her new beau and put a hand on his shoulder. She had quite working at the drugstore ever since her grandson Randy took over, and ended up meeting Lucy's Dad at the senior citizen's picnic.

"I know, I just wish...I wish her the best." He smiled and led Alexis out to the dance floor. Not long after them other couples joined. Paul with Maria, Marko with Cameron, and the other two brought their temporary dates/soon-to-be-meals. After a few seconds of awkwardness, Sam finally asked Veronica to dance with him. She accepted with a smile, but let her gaze linger on Paul for a few extra seconds. They left Laddie sitting at the kids table surrounded by a bunch of little girls that were captivated by his good looks. The Frog Brother's didn't show and neither did Star. Michael was alone, but didn't seem to mind.

After the song ended, Michael strode up to Max.

"So, do I have to refer to you by 'Dad' now?"

Max smiled, "I don't think you'll see me that much anymore, so it doesn't matter."

Michael had a generally confused look on his face. "What do you mean? Are you kicking me out of the house?"

"In a way. I'd like to call it pushing you towards what you really want and need."

"You've still got me lost."

"I know about Star."

"Oh," Michael's heart and face fell at that realization. "How did you find out?" He seemed even more confused when Max began to chuckle.

"Michael, you come home smelling like her every night. I'm not that oblivious. And ever sense then you've been in a much better mood and have stopped eating all our food. Plus when you first came out of the basement I went and looked for you. I saw you two together."

Michael's face reddened in embarrassment and fear. "You're not angry?"

"No, not at all. When I saw you two, that's when I realized who she really loved. And who you really loved. Then I thought about Lucy and what I would have done if we were in your positions. I don't want her to move back in, but I don't want you two to be apart."

Michael was silent as he tried to fight back tears. "I love her."

Max nodded, "I know. My idea is that you move out and start a life with her elsewhere. You don't have to leave right away. Go whenever you want. I want you to be happy Michael, and I don't think Santa Carla's going to do it for you. Go off with Star and start a family where no one knows you. You can always come back and visit."

"What about Mom?"

"I'm pretty sure she doesn't want her grown son living in her basement for the rest of eternity."

"Thanks...Dad. For taking care of Mom and not killing me when you found out about Star."

"Don't mention it. Now go find Star and tell her the news."

Max watched as Michael hugged his mom and left. Max was going to go and find his new bride, but ran into Veronica instead. Literally.

"Oh dear! I'm so sorry!" He picked up the girl and brushed off her purple and white dress.

"It's cool, I bounce back easily. My Mom told me to tell you that you make a handsome groom and Lucy makes a beautiful wife."

"Well tell her I said thanks. By the way, how are things at home?"

"Grand! Marko's over a lot though..."

"Mhm."

"But besides that, I guess I never realized how much I missed my bed. And my mom. I don't know what Kirby had over my mother, but I hope I'm never in a relationship like that."

"I'm pretty sure Sam would never do that to you."

Veronica blushed at his statement. "Yeah well...I guess he wouldn't. Hey can I ask you something?" She motioned for him to bend down so she could whisper in his ear. "Did David do something to my mom's boss?"

"What do you mean?" He hid his grin from her.

"Well, she got promoted at the carwash from manager to boss because her boss was conveniently killed in a very bloody car crash last week. I was just wondering."

Max straightened up and grinned down at her. "You might want to ask Marko about that one."

"Are you sure I want to ask _him_?"

Max coughed guiltily, "Well, you're mom had just gotten the bad news that her longtime boyfriend left her for another woman. She needed some good news to balance it out."

Veronica smirked up at him. "That's what I thought." She skipped away and found the DJ. She asked him to play an extra special song. As he was switching the records, Veronica quickly ran up to David and pulled him out to the floor. She forced him to dance with her as 'My Girl' by the Temptations floated over them in night.~


End file.
